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January 2003: High-Risk Series: Strategic Human Capital Management: GAO-03-120: This Series This report on strategic human capital management is part of GAO's high-risk series, first issued in 1993 and updated periodically. This series identifies areas at high risk due to either their greater vulnerabilities to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or major challenges associated with their economy, efficiency, or effectiveness. A companion series entitled the Performance and Accountability Series: Major Management Challenges and Program Risks contains separate reports covering each cabinet department, most major independent agencies, and the U.S. Postal Service. The series also includes a governmentwide perspective on transforming the way the government does business in order to meet 21st century challenges and address long-term fiscal needs. A list of all of the reports in this series is included at the end of this report. GAO Highlights: Highlights of a high-risk area discussed in the GAO report entitled High-Risk Series: Strategic Human Capital Management (GAO-03-120). HIGH-RISK SERIES Strategic Human Capital Management Why Area is High Risk: In its January 2001 High-Risk Update (GAO-01-263), GAO designated strategic human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area. The basic problem, which continues today, has been the long-standing lack of a consistent strategic approach to marshaling, managing, and maintaining the human capital needed to maximize government performance and assure its accountability. This report is part of a special series of reports on governmentwide and agency-specific challenges. What GAO Found: Leading public organizations here and abroad have found that strategic human capital management must be the centerpiece of any serious change management initiative and efforts to transform the cultures of government agencies. Unfortunately, the federal government's strategic human capital approaches are not yet well positioned to enable the needed transformation. Since we designated strategic human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area in January 2001, Congress has taken a number of steps to address the challenges identified, including granting agencies significant new authorities for managing their human capital as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The strategic management of human capital was also placed at the top of the President's Management Agenda. Individual agencies have also taken action to address their specific challenges. Despite the considerable progress over the past 2 years, it remains clear that today's federal human capital strategies are not appropriately constituted to meet current and emerging challenges or to drive the needed transformation across the federal government. Specifically, agencies continue to face challenges in four key areas: * Leadership: Top leadership in the agencies must provide the committed and inspired attention needed to address human capital and related organization transformation issues. * Strategic Human Capital Planning: Agencies' human capital planning efforts need to be more fully and demonstrably integrated with mission and critical program goals. * Acquiring, Developing, and Retaining Talent: Additional efforts are needed to improve recruiting, hiring, professional development, and retention strategies to ensure that agencies have the needed talent. * Results-Oriented Organizational Cultures: Agencies continue to lack organizational cultures that promote high performance and accountability and empower and include employees in setting and accomplishing programmatic goals. Importantly, although strategic human capital management remains high–risk government-wide, federal employees are not the problem. Rather, the problem is a set of policies and practices that are not strategic, and viewed by many as outdated and over-regulated. In the final analysis, modern, effective, and credible human capital strategies will be essential in order to maximize the performance and assure the accountability of the government for the benefit of the American people. What Remains to be Done: Reaching and maintaining an approach to human capital management that is strategic will take considerable effort from the Congress, agencies, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Office of Management and Budget. Ultimately, Congress will need to consider additional legislative reforms to existing civil service laws. While momentum continues to build for comprehensive civil service reform, agencies need to use currently available flexibilities to recruit, hire, develop, retain, and hold employees accountable for mission accomplishment. For additional information about this high-risk area, click on the link above or contact J. Christopher Mihm at (202) 512-6806 or email@example.com. Contents: Transmittal Letter: Strategic Human Capital Management: A High-Risk Area: Related GAO Products: Performance and Accountability and High-Risk Series: This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. It may contain copyrighted graphics, images or other materials. Permission from the copyright holder may be necessary should you wish to reproduce copyrighted materials separately from GAO's product. [End of Section] Transmittal Letter January 2003: The President of the Senate The Speaker of the House of Representatives: Our high-risk update is provided at the start of each new Congress in conjunction with a special series we have issued biennially since January 1999, entitled the Performance and Accountability Series: Major Management Challenges and Program Risks. This report, which discusses strategic human capital management, is a companion to our 2003 high- risk update, High-Risk Series: An Update (GAO-03-119). These reports are intended to help the new Congress focus its attention on the most important issues and challenges facing the federal government. In its January 2001 High-Risk Update (GAO-01-263), GAO designated strategic human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area. The basic problem, which continues today, has been the long-standing lack of a consistent strategic approach to marshaling, managing, and maintaining the human capital needed to maximize government performance and assure its accountability. Specifically, agencies across the federal government continue to face challenges in four key areas: * Leadership: Top leadership in the agencies must provide the committed and inspired attention needed to address human capital and related organization transformation issues. * Strategic Human Capital Planning: Agencies' human capital planning efforts need to be more fully and demonstrably integrated with mission and critical program goals. * Acquiring, Developing, and Retaining Talent: Additional efforts are needed to improve recruiting, hiring, professional development, and retention strategies to ensure that agencies have the needed talent. * Results-Oriented Organizational Cultures: Agencies continue to lack organizational cultures that promote high performance and accountability and empower and include employees in setting and accomplishing programmatic goals. This report should help the new Congress and the administration attend to these problems and improve agency strategic human capital management for the benefit of the American people. For additional information about this report, please contact J. Christopher Mihm, Director, Strategic Issues, at (202) 512-6806 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Related GAO products on strategic human capital management are listed at the end of this report. Signed by: David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States: [End of section] Strategic Human Capital Management: A High-Risk Area: The early years of the 21st century are proving to be a period of profound transition for our world, our country, and our government. As the governmentwide perspective volume of this series makes clear, this transition is being driven by a number of key trends, including global interdependence; diverse, diffuse, and asymmetrical security threats; changes in the nature of the economy; rapidly evolving science and technologies; dramatic shifts in the age and composition of our population; important quality of life issues; and evolving government structures and concepts. Given the challenges these trends present, the federal government needs to engage in a comprehensive review, reassessment, reprioritization, and as appropriate, a reengineering of what the government does, how it does business, and in some cases, who does the government's business. Leading public organizations here and abroad have found that strategic human capital management should be the centerpiece of any serious change management initiative and efforts to transform the cultures of government agencies. Since we designated strategic human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area in January 2001, Congress and agencies have taken a number of steps to address the federal government's human capital shortfalls. In August 2001, President Bush placed the strategic management of human capital at the top of the administration's management agenda. Later, in November 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002 that created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and provided the new department with significant flexibility to design a modern human capital management system.[Footnote 1] This act also included additional significant provisions relating to governmentwide human capital management. Nevertheless, despite building momentum for comprehensive and systematic reforms, it remains clear that today's federal human capital strategies are not yet appropriately constituted to meet current and emerging challenges or to drive the needed transformation across the federal government. The basic problem, which continues today, has been the long-standing lack of a consistent strategic approach to marshaling, managing, and maintaining the human capital needed to maximize government performance and assure its accountability. Importantly, although strategic human capital management remains high risk governmentwide, federal employees are not the problem. Rather, the problem is a set of policies that are viewed by many as outdated, overregulated, and not strategic. Human capital weaknesses in the federal government did not emerge overnight and will not be quickly or easily addressed. Committed, sustained, and inspired leadership and persistent attention on behalf of all interested parties will continue to be essential to build on the progress that has been and is being made, if lasting reforms are to be successfully implemented. Important Actions Taken since January 2001: A real and growing momentum for change is evident since we placed strategic human capital management on our high-risk list in January 2001. * In August 2001, President Bush placed the strategic management of human capital at the top of the administration's management agenda. * In October 2001, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) notified agencies that they would be assessed against standards for success for each part of the President's Management Agenda (PMA), including the strategic management of human capital. The first agency assessment was made public in February 2002 as part of the President's proposed fiscal year 2003 budget. Subsequent assessments were later released in June and September 2002, reporting on both the status and progress of agency efforts. * In December 2001, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a human capital scorecard to assist agencies in responding to the human capital standards for success in the PMA. * In March 2002, we released A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management, designed to help agency leaders determine how well they integrate human capital considerations into daily decision making and planning for the program results they seek to achieve.[Footnote 2] * In April 2002, the Commercial Activities Panel, chaired by the Comptroller General, sought to elevate attention to human capital considerations in making sourcing decisions. * In October 2002, OMB and OPM approved revised standards for success in the human capital area of the PMA, reflecting language that was developed in collaboration with GAO. To assist agencies in responding to the revised PMA standards, OPM released the Human Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework. * In the fall of 2002, OPM began realigning it organizational structure and appointed four new associate directors with proven human capital expertise to lead federal efforts as part of a larger OPM effort to be more customer-focused. * In November 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created DHS and provided the department with significant flexibility to design a modern human capital management system. The effective development and implementation of these flexibilities will prove essential to the performance and accountability of DHS, as well as provide a potential model for Congress to consider for wider application governmentwide. * The Homeland Security Act of 2002 also included additional significant provisions relating to governmentwide human capital management, such as direct hire authority, the ability to use categorical ranking in the hiring of applicants instead of the "rule of three," the creation of chief human capital officer (CHCO) positions and a CHCO Council, an expanded voluntary early retirement and "buy- out" authority, a requirement to discuss human capital approaches in Government Performance and Results Act reports and plans, a provision allowing executives to receive their total performance bonus in the year in which it is awarded, and other flexibilities. * Congress has further underscored the consequences of human capital weaknesses in federal agencies and pinpointed potential solutions through its oversight process and a range of hearings. A number of individual agencies have also begun efforts to address human capital challenges. The Department of Defense (DOD) published two human capital strategic plans in April 2002, addressing military personnel priorities and quality of life issues affecting service members and their families. These plans represent a positive step forward in fostering a more strategic approach to human capital management within DOD.[Footnote 3] In addition, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing an agencywide workforce planning and analysis system as part of its new financial management system and has in place a strategic human capital plan. It is also refocusing attention on hiring applicants just out of college and implementing a student loan repayment program.[Footnote 4] Facing immense challenges within its first year of existence, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has simultaneously started to build the infrastructure of a large organization as it focused primarily on meeting its aviation deadlines. TSA reports that in just over 1 year it recruited, hired, trained, and deployed more than 44,000 screeners in order to meet its mandated deadlines to federalize passenger screening at airports across the nation by November 19, 2002, and screen every piece of checked baggage for explosives by December 31, 2002.[Footnote 5] Additionally, a number of federal agencies are in the early stages of implementing new performance management systems for their senior executives that are intended to balance accountability for organizational results with a focus on customer satisfaction and a consideration of employee perspectives.[Footnote 6] In addition to efforts being taken by the federal government, the National Academy of Public Administration, the Partnership for Public Service, the National Commission on the Public Service, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Council for Excellence in Government, the IBM Endowment for the Business of Government, and other interested parties have played valuable and important roles in drawing attention to problems and potential solutions to address federal human capital challenges. Continuing Weaknesses Underscore Need for Further Progress: Federal employees have often been viewed as costs to be cut rather than as assets to be valued. This is partially reflected in the September 2002 PMA human capital scores assigned to agencies in which 21 of 26 agencies received "red" scores, indicating substantial weaknesses in one or more of the human capital areas.[Footnote 7] Governmentwide, agencies have only recently begun to recognize and respond to the two principles that are central to the human capital idea: * People are assets whose value can be enhanced through investment. As with any investment, the goal is to maximize value while managing risk. * An organization's human capital approaches should be designed, implemented, and assessed by the standard of how well they help the organization achieve results and pursue its mission. Specifically, agencies across the federal government continue to face challenges in the four key areas that we highlighted in January 2001 when we added strategic human capital management to the high-risk list. [See PDF for image] - graphic text: [End of figure] - graphic text: Leadership: To become a high-performing organization, an agency needs senior leaders who are drivers of continuous improvement and stimulate and support efforts to integrate human capital approaches with organizational goals. There is no substitute for the committed involvement of top leadership. Our work over the years, most prominently in the High-Risk and Performance and Accountability Series, has amply documented that agencies are suffering from a range of long- standing management problems that are undermining their abilities to effectively and efficiently accomplish their missions and achieve results. The nature of the management challenges and transformation issues confronting many agencies calls for approaches from leaders governmentwide that serve to: * elevate attention to management issues and organization transformation, * integrate various key management and transformation efforts, and: * institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues and leading organization transformation. As detailed in the DHS volume of the Performance and Accountability Series, the creation of DHS will represent an enormous leadership challenge, encompassing each of the four key human capital challenge areas and many other management systems.[Footnote 8] Over 170,000 federal employees from over 20 originating agencies or their components with different missions, cultures, and procedures will need to be effectively and efficiently integrated into a single department. Sustained and inspired political and career leadership will be essential to the successful implementation and transformation of DHS. To assist DHS and other federal agencies undergoing transformation, we convened a forum composed of participants with experience in managing and studying large-scale mergers, acquisitions, and transformations, and individuals with recent executive branch leadership experience and/ or significant management experience.[Footnote 9] The forum identified key practices that have consistently been at the center of successful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations. We convened an additional forum to discuss strategies for addressing certain systemic federal governance and management challenges.[Footnote 10] More generally, elevating, integrating, and institutionalizing attention, responsibility, and accountability for management reform and organizational transformation is important because of the sustained, continuing efforts that are required. The experience of successful change management initiatives in large public and private organizations suggests that it can often take 5 to 7 years until such initiatives are fully implemented and cultures are transformed in a substantial manner. This time frame can easily outlast the tenures of top agency political leadership. Governmentwide, the average tenure of political appointees for the period 1990 through 2001 was just under 3 years.[Footnote 11] The average tenure of political leadership and the long-term nature of the change management initiatives that are needed can have critical implications for the success of those initiatives. For example, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is responsible for regulating and overseeing major aspects of the natural gas and electric power industries, has been slow to implement a new regulatory and oversight approach in response to the shift to competitive energy markets, due in part to frequent turnover in the position of chief administrator over the past 5 years.[Footnote 12] Career executives must help provide the long-term commitment and focus needed to transform an agency. However, the challenges facing our executive corps require a comprehensive examination of opportunities for better using the federal government's career SES leadership. These issues include concerns about Senior Executive Service (SES) compensation and pay compression, including making pay increases variable and performance-based rather than across-the-board and fixed. The composition of the SES must also be carefully examined. In general, current members of the SES fill three broad roles: executive leadership, program management, and senior technical and specialist positions. The implications that these differing roles have for a range of issues, such as SES core competencies, performance standards, recruitment sources, mobility, and training and development programs need to be carefully considered. In addition to addressing structural challenges facing the SES, the retirement eligibility of executives is increasing governmentwide. For example, 71 percent of career SES members will reach retirement eligibility by the end of fiscal year 2005. Comparatively, during fiscal years 1992 through 1998, 60 percent of career SES members became eligible to retire. The retirement eligibility trend suggests a loss in institutional knowledge, expertise, and leadership continuity and underscores the need for rigorous succession planning initiatives. Furthermore, as reported by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), one of the pipelines for future executives, the Presidential Management Intern (PMI) program, designed to attract outstanding individuals to careers in the management and analysis of public policies and programs, is not universally viewed as a vehicle to hire and train future public managers.[Footnote 13] According to the MSPB study, neither OPM nor participating agencies consistently stress the management development aspects of the PMI program. Strategic Human Capital Planning: High performing organizations align their human capital approaches with mission and goal accomplishment. They stay alert to emerging mission demands and human capital challenges and reevaluate their human capital approaches through the use of valid, reliable, and current data, including an inventory of employee skills and competencies. The absence of such data can seriously undermine efforts to identify and respond to current and emerging challenges. We have noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lacks a comprehensive workforce plan, despite its being plagued by a rapidly increasing workload, and staff turnover that remains much higher than the norm for comparable federal positions, and at a time when the agency is trying to respond to a wave of corporate accounting scandals.[Footnote 14] Likewise, although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimates that nearly 50 percent of currently employed air traffic controllers will retire by 2010, it has not developed a comprehensive human capital management strategy for hiring, training, and retaining controllers, thus increasing the risk that the agency will not have enough qualified controllers to meet air traffic demand.[Footnote 15] More generally, we estimate that 15 percent of the federal workforce will retire from 2001 through 2006.[Footnote 16] This creates an opportunity to consider the potential of different approaches to phased retirement, such that federal employees with critical skills could transition from full-time employment to part-time employment and receive a portion of their federal pension. Some federal agencies, on the other hand, are beginning strategic human capital planning efforts. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its workforce strategy in November 2000, which clearly identifies six major human capital goals, discusses implementation plans, and identifies units within the agency that are responsible for implementation. However, as we noted in our July 2001 report, the strategy does not explain how achieving its human capital objectives will improve the agency's performance in meeting its strategic objectives, and does not provide results-oriented measures for tracking the success of the human capital approaches.[Footnote 17] In response to our recommendations, EPA has begun to develop a workforce planning system that is expected to identify the technical skills and number and types of positions required, inventory the skills of the current workforce, examine attrition rates, and forecast the number of new hires needed. Careful and thoughtful workforce planning efforts are also critical to making intelligent competitive sourcing decisions. The Commercial Activities Panel called for federal sourcing policy to be "consistent with human capital practices designed to attract, motivate, retain, and reward a high performing workforce" and highlighted a number of human capital approaches to help achieve that objective.[Footnote 18] Acquiring, Developing, and Retaining Talent: A high-performance organization needs a dynamic, results-oriented workforce with the requisite talents, multidisciplinary knowledge, and up-to-date skills to ensure that it is equipped to accomplish its mission and achieve its goals. To acquire and retain such a workforce and replace the sizeable cohort of federal employees eligible for retirement over the coming years demands that agencies improve their recruiting, hiring, development, and retention approaches so that they can compete for talented people. As human capital approaches are designed to confront this challenge, agencies should take advantage of available flexibilities that are appropriate for their particular organizations and their mission accomplishment. While federal agencies shift program priorities and policies to respond to a dynamic environment, they should also be aware of and have the policies and programs in place to respond to the recruiting, hiring, and development challenges associated with the transformation. For example, we have reported on the talent challenges facing consular staff worldwide, including a changing workload due to new security procedures that are compounded by staffing limitations and the shortcomings of the training offered to these staff before July 2002.[Footnote 19] However, should the Congress decide to require visas from current visa waiver travelers, the State Department would be faced with an even greater challenge to hire and train new staff to handle the resulting workload increase. Depending on the percentage of visa applicants that State would be required to interview due to the policy change, it could take at least 2 to 4 years to hire and train the needed personnel, according to our November 2002 report.[Footnote 20] In addition to the approximately 840 foreign service officers who are currently overseas, we estimate that State would need from 350 to 800 additional officers to implement the proposed changes to the visa waiver program. The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) success in ensuring the timely review of drugs and biologics depends how well it faces the challenge of hiring and retaining its workforce. With the exception of chemists, FDA's attrition rate for employees in its drug review process is higher than the comparable attrition rates for the same disciplines at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and similar disciplines governmentwide. The loss of staff is aggravated by the time the agency needs to hire and train replacement staff. Furthermore, the agency's currently employed reviewers have been forgoing training and professional development to meet statutory drug review timelines. To respond to the challenge, FDA has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce attrition, including the payment of retention bonuses, so that it can maintain the science base it needs to review increasingly complex applications for new drugs. A particularly critical area on which to focus better investments and more attention in training and professional development is contract management. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has not taken steps to ensure that individuals responsible for managing and monitoring contracts have the skills and training that would enable them to perform their jobs effectively.[Footnote 21] According to HUD's records, over half of the staff who are directly responsible for monitoring contractor performance have not received required acquisition training. HUD's procurement office management was not aware that staff were serving in that capacity without the required training. In response to our report, the department stated that it plans to take action to improve the management of its acquisition workforce, but that it believes its acquisition workforce is receiving the required training in accordance with federal requirements. We remain concerned that a significant portion of the staff responsible for contractor monitoring has not received the appropriate training. The effective, efficient, and transparent use of human capital flexibilities must be a key component of agency efforts to address staffing shortages and related human capital challenges. We have observed that agencies should use available authorities to overcome the human capital challenges they face. Moreover, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 not only provided the President with additional authority to create new policies for managing the workforce within DHS, it also authorized additional personnel flexibilities to agencies across government. We have noted that while authorizing additional flexibilities is important, how personnel authorities are implemented is equally important. To assist agencies in that regard, we recently reported on a set of practices that are key to the effective use of flexibilities.[Footnote 22] These practices are shown in figure 1. Figure 1: Key Practices for Effective Use of Human Capital Flexibilities: [See PDF for image] - graphic text: [End of figure] - graphic text: Source: GAO. Results-Oriented Organizational Cultures: Federal agencies need to continue to incorporate a crucial ingredient found in successful organizations: organizational cultures that promote high performance and accountability and empower and include employees in setting and accomplishing the organization's programmatic goals. To foster results-oriented cultures, leading organizations have recognized that an effective performance management system can be a strategic tool to drive internal change and achieve external results. Effective performance management systems create a "line of sight" showing how unit, team, and individual performance can contribute to overall organizational goals. We have reported that this "line of sight" can help the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) improve performance by helping its employees see the connection between their daily activities and the agency's success, and encouraging employees to focus on performing their duties in a manner that helps the FBI achieve its goals.[Footnote 23] The FBI needs to review and revise its performance management system in a way that is in line with the agency's strategic plan, including results, core values, and transformational objectives. In June 2002, the FBI outlined its plans to reorganize according to new mission priorities and realign its workforce to support the accomplishment of these priorities. Leading organizations use their performance management systems not merely as once--or twice--yearly expectation and appraisal tools, but as mechanisms to facilitate communication throughout the year so that discussions about individual and organizational performance are integrated and ongoing. These leading organizations typically seek to achieve three key objectives with their performance management systems. First, they strive to provide candid and constructive feedback to help individual employees maximize their potential in understanding and realizing the goals and objectives of the agency. Second, they seek to provide management with the objective and fact-based information it needs to reward top performers. Third, performance management systems provide the necessary information and documentation to deal with poor performers. We are concerned that federal performance management systems do not achieve these objectives. Modernizing agency performance appraisal and management systems and linking them to agency strategic plans and desired outcomes should be a top priority if the federal government is to successfully address the transformational challenges it faces.[Footnote 24] To assist agencies in using their performance management systems to help achieve organizational goals, we studied other countries' experiences in developing and implementing their performance management systems, and identified practices that provide U.S. federal agencies with information and insights as they undertake their own initiatives.[Footnote 25] For example, we found that the Ontario Public Service and the Australian Tax Office place considerable emphasis on the achievement of organizational results when evaluating individual performance and determining individual rewards. To place increased emphasis on accountability for organizational results governmentwide, starting in the appraisal cycles that began in 2001, OPM requires agencies to establish performance management systems for senior executives to hold them accountable for their individual and organizational performance; evaluate senior executive performance using measures that balance organizational results against customer satisfaction and employee perspectives; and use performance results as a basis for pay, awards, and other personnel decisions. We found that while the Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Highway Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Veterans Benefits Administration are in the early stages of implementing new performance management systems for their senior executives, there are significant opportunities to strengthen their efforts as they move forward in holding senior executives accountable for results. In particular, more progress is needed in explicitly linking senior executive expectations for performance to results-oriented organizational goals, fostering the necessary collaboration both within and across organizational boundaries to achieve results, and demonstrating a commitment to lead and facilitate change.[Footnote 26] Ultimately, an effective performance management system must link pay and incentive programs to individual knowledge, skills, and contributions to achieve organizational results. However, this link will never be achieved without modern and effective performance management strategies. In that regard, leading organizations understand the importance of creating effective incentives and rewards for high- performing employees that place a greater emphasis on knowledge, skills, and contributions to achieving organizational results and in connection with federal employment promotion and compensation decisions at all levels, rather than the passage of time, the rate of inflation, or geographic location, as so often is the case today. Additional information on the performance management programs in use in agencies and the relative strengths and weaknesses of those programs, along with best practice information, would prove helpful as agencies seek to link pay to individual knowledge, skills, and performance. OPM's recently released white paper on federal pay provides a good foundation for the results-oriented pay reform discussion that must now take place.[Footnote 27] The greater use of "broadbanding" is one of the options that deserves to be discussed. In the short term, Congress may wish to explore the benefits of (1) providing OPM with additional flexibility that would enable it to grant governmentwide authority for all agencies (i.e., class exemptions) to use broadbanding for certain critical occupations and/or (2) allowing agencies to apply to OPM (i.e., case exemptions) for broadbanding authority for their specific critical occupations. However, agencies should be required to demonstrate to OPM's satisfaction that they have modern, effective, and validated performance management systems before they are allowed to use broadbanding. In addition to promoting high performance and accountability to foster results-oriented cultures, successful organizations empower and involve their employees. Leading organizations create a set of mission- related program guidelines within which managers operate, and give their managers extensive authority to pursue organizational goals. Involving employees in planning helps to incorporate insights about operations from a frontline perspective, increase their understanding and acceptance of organizational goals and objectives, and improve motivation and morale. We identified a number of barriers facing agencies as they began empowering and involving employees, including a lack of trust, resistance to change and lack of buy-in, workload demands, and poorly timed training.[Footnote 28] Engaging employee unions in major changes can help achieve consensus on the planned changes, avoid misunderstandings, speed implementation, and more expeditiously resolve problems that occur. For example, as the U.S. Postal Service begins to implement its Transformation Plan, improvements in its adversarial relationship with labor groups will be required to improve workforce alignment and performance management systems.[Footnote 29] For the Postal Service transformation to be successful, it is vital for the service and its unions to share a common vision for the future and mutual responsibility for finding solutions to the service's workforce problems. The recent formation of joint task teams with two major unions is a constructive step. Building on the Current Momentum to Create Lasting Change: While important progress is being made, much more needs to be done to address the federal government's long-standing strategic human capital management challenges. First and foremost, individual federal agencies need to more consistently and completely adopt a strategic approach to their most important asset - their people. This requires persistent leadership commitment; aligning human capital approaches with the accomplishment of agency goals; implementing recruiting, hiring, training and professional development, and retention approaches that foster mission accomplishment; and instilling a results-oriented organizational culture. OPM and OMB Must Sustain Their Attention: As the agency responsible for leading human capital management governmentwide, OPM plays a central role in helping agencies tackle the broad range of human capital challenges that are at the root of transforming what agencies do, how they do it, and with whom they partner. As detailed in our Performance and Accountability Series volume on OPM, our work and the work of others continues to show that agencies need and want greater leadership from OPM in helping them to address their human capital challenges, especially in identifying new human capital flexibilities, removing obstacles from the federal hiring process, and assisting agency workforce planning efforts.[Footnote 30] Opportunities exist for OPM to be more vigorous in responding to a number of critical program challenges, such as applicant examination, staffing, and compensation approaches. In addition, OPM shares responsibility with agencies for ensuring that human capital practices are carried out in accordance with merit systems principles and other national goals. Effective and strategic oversight of agencies' systems is even more critical today because an increasing number of agencies are seeking and obtaining exemptions from traditional civil service rules at the same time that human capital staffs responsible for overseeing these activities have dwindled. In response to these ongoing challenges, OPM has taken a number of important actions. First, OPM is realigning its organizational structure and workforce to create a new, flexible structure that will "de-stovepipe" the agency; enable it to be more responsive to its primary customers, federal departments and agencies; and focus on the agency's core mission. In November 2002, OPM's director appointed four new associate directors with proven human capital expertise to lead the organization. OPM also has the key role in leading the administration's efforts to address strategic human capital management, a critical part of the PMA, and issued a human capital scorecard in December 2001 to assist agencies. OPM published two reports in 2001 to increase agencies' awareness of available human capital flexibilities, and released a report on federal compensation practices in April 2002. A major initiative begun in the spring of 2002 is designed to improve the hiring process. Furthermore, OPM is addressing its oversight challenge in part by encouraging agencies to develop and maintain internal accountability systems in line with its HRM Accountability Standards. The designation of human capital as the first item on the PMA and the supporting standards for success have raised the profile of human capital issues on OMB's agenda. As OMB and the agencies learn to evaluate themselves against the standards and implement policies to improve, OMB will need to ensure that the standards are consistently and appropriately applied while assessing agencies' progress in managing their human capital. Perhaps most important, OMB support will be needed as agencies identify targeted investment opportunities to address human capital shortfalls. Congressional Leadership Continues to Be Critical to Improving Strategic Human Capital Management: Congress has had and will need to continue to have a central role in improving agencies' human capital approaches. Traditionally, Congress has been an institutional champion in improving management of executive agencies. On an agency-specific basis as well, support and pressure from Congress has been indispensable to instituting and sustaining management reforms. Its confirmation, oversight, appropriations, and legislative responsibilities provide Congress with continuing opportunities to ensure that agencies recognize their responsibilities to manage people for results. For example, the Senate has the opportunity during the confirmation process to articulate its commitment to sound federal management by exploring how prospective nominees plan to make a link between mission accomplishment and human capital policies.[Footnote 31] As part of the oversight and appropriations process, Congress can continue to examine whether agencies are managing their human capital to improve programmatic effectiveness and to encourage agencies to use the range of appropriate flexibilities available under current law. Congress will also play a defining role in determining the scope and appropriateness of additional human capital flexibilities and targeted investments, while maintaining appropriate safeguards to prevent abuse. Ultimately, Congress may wish to consider comprehensive legislative reforms to existing civil service laws, taking into account the extent to which traditional approaches make sense in the current and future operating environment. Consensus has yet to emerge on the degree to which legislative changes are needed to: * design a more flexible and streamlined position classification system; * design a more flexible compensation system that relies to a larger degree on performance, skills, and knowledge; * design a hiring process that enables agencies to hire employees more rapidly while upholding merit system principles and other national goals; and: * ensure that agency-designed performance management systems provide (1) candid and constructive feedback to link employee performance with the accomplishment of organizational results, (2) fact-based information to management to reward top performers, and (3) information for dealing with poor performers. Moving forward, we will continue to play a professional, objective, and constructive role in assisting Congress and the executive branch as agencies transform and implement strategic human capital approaches. As part of this effort, we have released two tools to inform agency leaders as they evaluate the current state of strategic human capital management in their organizations. A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management is designed to help agency leaders determine how well they integrate human capital considerations into daily decision making and planning for the program results they seek to achieve.[Footnote 32] In addition, agencies may find our Human Capital: A Self-Assessment Checklist for Agency Leaders helpful in assessing the success or shortcomings of particular human capital policies.[Footnote 33] The challenge to manage federal human capital strategically will not be quickly or easily addressed. Comprehensive human capital legislative reforms will likely be needed, but agency leaders must not wait for them to happen. Much of the authority agency leaders need to manage human capital strategically is already available under current laws and regulations.[Footnote 34] Therefore, we believe the first step toward meeting the government's human capital challenges is for agency leaders to identify and make use of all the appropriate administrative authorities available to them to manage their people for results. The use of these authorities often will need to be undertaken as part of and consistent with proven change management practices. The second step is for policymakers to pursue incremental legislative reforms to give agencies additional tools and flexibilities to hire, manage, and retain the human capital they need, particularly in critical occupations. The third step is for all interested parties to work together to identify the kinds of comprehensive legislative reforms in the human capital area that should be enacted over time. For additional information on strategic human capital management issues, contact J. Christopher Mihm, Director, Strategic Issues, at (202) 512-6806 or email@example.com. [End of section] Related GAO Products: Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Office of Personnel Management. GAO-03-115. Washington, D.C.: January 30, 2003. Human Capital: Effective Use of Flexibilities Can Assist Agencies in Managing Their Workforces. GAO-03-2. Washington, D.C.: December 6, 2002. Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies. GAO- 03-293SP. Washington, D.C.: November 14, 2002. Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges. GAO-03- 192SP. Washington, D.C.: October 4, 2002. Results-Oriented Cultures: Using Balanced Expectations to Manage Senior Executive Performance. GAO-02-966. Washington, D.C.: September 27, 2002. Results-Oriented Cultures: Insights for U.S. Agencies from Other Countries' Performance Management Initiatives. GAO-02-862. Washington, D.C.: August 2, 2002. Managing for Results: Using Strategic Human Capital Management to Drive Transformational Change. GAO-02-940T. Washington, D.C.: July 15, 2002. Improving the Sourcing Decisions of Government. Final Report of the Commercial Activities Panel. Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2002. A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management. GAO-02-373SP. Washington, D.C.: March 15, 2002. Human Capital: Practices That Empowered and Involved Employees. GAO-01- 1070. Washington, D.C.: September 14, 2001. Office of Personnel Management: Status of Achieving Key Outcomes and Addressing Major Management Challenges. GAO-01-884. Washington, D.C.: July 9, 2001. [End of section] Performance and Accountability and High-Risk Series: Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: A Governmentwide Perspective. GAO-03-95. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Agriculture. GAO-03-96. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Commerce. GAO-03-97. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Defense. GAO-03-98. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Education. GAO-03-99. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Energy. GAO-03-100. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Health and Human Services. GAO-03-101. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Homeland Security. GAO-03-102. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Housing and Urban Development. GAO-03-103. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of the Interior. GAO-03-104. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Justice. GAO-03-105. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Labor. GAO-03-106. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of State. GAO-03-107. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Transportation. GAO-03-108. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of the Treasury. GAO-03-109. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Veterans Affairs. GAO-03-110. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: U.S. Agency for International Development. GAO-03-111. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Environmental Protection Agency. GAO-03-112. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Federal Emergency Management Agency. GAO-03-113. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. GAO-03-114. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Office of Personnel Management. GAO-03-115. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Small Business Administration. GAO-03-116. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Social Security Administration. GAO-03-117. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: U.S. Postal Service. GAO-03-118. High-Risk Series: An Update. GAO-03-119. High-Risk Series: Strategic Human Capital Management. GAO-03-120. High-Risk Series: Protecting Information Systems Supporting the Federal Government and the Nation's Critical Infrastructures. GAO-03-121. High-Risk Series: Federal Real Property. GAO-03-122. FOOTNOTES [1] Public Law 107-296, Nov. 25, 2002. [2] GAO-02-373SP. [3] U.S. General Accounting Office, Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Defense, GAO-03-98 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2003), and Military Personnel: Oversight Process Needed to Help Maintain Momentum of DOD's Strategic Human Capital Planning, GAO-03-237 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 5, 2002). [4] U.S. General Accounting Office, NASA Management Challenges: Human Capital and Other Critical Areas Need to Be Addressed, GAO-02-945T (Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2002). [5] U.S. General Accounting Office, Transportation Security Administration: Actions and Plans to Build a Results-Oriented Culture, GAO-03-190 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 17, 2003). [6] U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Using Balanced Expectations to Manage Senior Executive Performance, GAO-02- 966 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2002). [7] This represents the third set of agency grades released as part of the PMA. A baseline evaluation was originally released in February 2002 as part of the President's fiscal year 2003 budget message. A second set of grades on progress and current status was released in June 2002. [8] U.S. General Accounting Office, Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Homeland Security, GAO-03-102 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2003). [9] U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies, GAO-03-293SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov, 14, 2002). [10] U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges, GAO-03-192SP (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 4, 2002). [11] This analysis included only those appointed after October 1, 1989 (fiscal year 1990) who left before September 30, 2001 (fiscal year 2001). Political appointees who were appointed before October 1, 1989 or who had not left by September 30, 2001 were not included because they did not have appointment or separation dates in the database we reviewed and thus we could not determine their length of service. Separations included resignations, terminations, retirements, and deaths. [12] U.S. General Accounting Office, Energy Markets: Concerted Actions Needed by FERC to Confront Challenges That Impede Effective Oversight, GAO-02-656 (Washington, D.C.: June 14, 2002). [13] U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Growing Leaders: The Presidential Management Intern Program (Washington, D.C.: August 2001). [14] U.S. General Accounting Office, SEC Operations: Increased Workload Creates Challenges, GAO-02-302 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 5, 2002), and Securities and Exchange Commission: Human Capital Challenges Require Management Attention, GAO-01-947 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 17, 2001). [15] U.S. General Accounting Office, Air Traffic Control: FAA Needs to Better Prepare for Impending Wave of Controller Attrition, GAO-02-591 (Washington, D.C.: June 14, 2002). [16] U.S. General Accounting Office, Federal Employee Retirements: Expected Increase Over the Next 5 Years Illustrates Need for Workforce Planning, GAO-01-509 (Washington D.C.: Apr. 27, 2001). [17] U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Implementing an Effective Workforce Strategy Would Help EPA to Achieve Its Strategic Goals, GAO-01-812 (Washington, D.C.: July 31, 2001). [18] Commercial Activities Panel, Improving the Sourcing Decisions of Government: Final Report (Washington, D.C.: April 2002). [19] U.S. General Accounting Office, Border Security: Visa Process Should be Strengthened as an Antiterrorism Tool, GAO-03-132NI (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 2002). [20] U.S. General Accounting Office, Border Security: Implications of Eliminating the Visa Waiver Program, GAO-03-38 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 22, 2002). [21] U.S. General Accounting Office, HUD Management: Actions Needed to Improve Acquisition Management, GAO-03-157 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2002). [22] U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Effective Use of Flexibilities Can Assist Agencies in Managing Their Workforces, GAO-03- 2 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 6, 2002). [23] U.S. General Accounting Office, FBI Reorganization: Initial Steps Encouraging but Broad Transformation Needed, GAO-02-865T (Washington, D.C.: June 21, 2002). [24] U.S. General Accounting Office, Managing for Results: Using Strategic Human Capital Management to Drive Transformational Change, GAO-02-940T (Washington, D.C.: July 15, 2002). [25] U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Insights for U.S. Agencies from Other Countries' Performance Management Initiatives, GAO-02-862 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 2, 2002). [26] GAO-02-966. [27] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, A White Paper: A Fresh Start for Federal Pay: The Case for Modernization (Washington, D.C.: April 2002). [28] U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Practices That Empowered and Involved Employees, GAO-01-1070 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 14, 2001). [29] U.S. General Accounting Office, Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: U.S. Postal Service, GAO-03-118 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2003), and U.S. Postal Service: Deteriorating Financial Outlook Increases Need for Transformation, GAO-02-355 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 28, 2002). [30] U.S. General Accounting Office, Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Office of Personnel Management, GAO-03-115 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2003). [31] Toward this end, we developed a set of questions for political appointees that the Senate may use during the confirmation process. See U.S. General Accounting Office, Confirmation of Political Appointees: Eliciting Nominees' Views on Leadership and Management Issues, GAO/GGD- 00-174 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 11, 2000). [32] GAO-02-373SP. [33] GAO/OCG-00-14G. [34] To assist agencies in identifying available human capital flexibilities, OPM has published Human Resources Flexibilities and Authorities in the Federal Government (Washington, D.C.: July 2001). GAO's Mission: The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability. Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony: The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost is through the Internet. GAO's Web site ( www.gao.gov ) contains abstracts and full-text files of current reports and testimony and an expanding archive of older products. The Web site features a search engine to help you locate documents using key words and phrases. You can print these documents in their entirety, including charts and other graphics. Each day, GAO issues a list of newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence. GAO posts this list, known as "Today's Reports," on its Web site daily. The list contains links to the full-text document files. To have GAO e-mail this list to you every afternoon, go to www.gao.gov and select "Subscribe to daily E-mail alert for newly released products" under the GAO Reports heading. Order by Mail or Phone: The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2 each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders should be sent to: U.S. General Accounting Office 441 G Street NW, Room LM Washington, D.C. 20548: To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000: TDD: (202) 512-2537: Fax: (202) 512-6061: To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs: Contact: Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm E-mail: email@example.com Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470: Public Affairs: Jeff Nelligan, managing director, firstname.lastname@example.com (202) 512-4800 U.S. General Accounting Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 Washington, D.C. 20548:


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Treellama wrote:Just off hand, here are some skills that seem useful when running a net map contest:
I'm sure I could come up with more. Now, you can probably run a contest if you are only missing one or maybe even two of these. But if you don't have a single one?
- Considerable experience playing net games on a competitive level
- At least passing knowledge of the basics of what makes a net map good. Bonus points for having designed a good net map yourself.
- Autonomy and planning: ability to draft a set of requirements before being asked
- Leadership: knowing who is qualified to judge net maps, and being able to delegate that part of the contest
- Planning: making sure there will actually be qualified judges before you announce the contest
- Communication: having a basic, grade school level of spelling and grammar
- Sense of purpose: what is the purpose of the contest? What motivation is there for anybody to enter it? What motivation is there for anybody to judge it?
Nobody should have to "just say so." This should be painfully obvious with any reasonable amount of introspection.
Please don't take this personally. You can learn to do all of these things, in time. Then when you're ready, you'll know what to do.
Sorry about that double post Dugit.
Thanks treellama for this advice.
Sorry for the pointless topic.

subset: commoncrawl


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Awards season has begun: The Gotham Awards were handed out tonight to honor the best of the year in independent film. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom landed the top award, Best Feature, a choice I won't argue with. As far as recognizable names go, Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mark Duplass won Best Ensemble Performance for Your Sister's Sister. Although Beasts of the Southern Wild must have been a strong contender for Best Feature, Benh Zeitlin had to settle for Breakthrough Director.
You better believe that the Gotham Awards go more obscure than Beasts, including an award for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You. So hit the jump for the full list.
Via THR:
Best Feature
- Directed by Wes Anderson
- Produced by Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
- Released by Focus Features
Best Documentary
- Directed and produced by David France
- Produced by Howard Gertler
- Released by IFC Films
Best Ensemble Performance
Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass in YOUR SISTER'S SISTER
- Released by IFC Films
Breakthrough Actor
EMAYATZY CORINEALDI in MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
- Released by AFFRM and Participant Media
Breakthrough Director
BENH ZEITLIN for BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
- Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
- Directed and produced by Terence Nance
- Produced by Andrew Corkin and James Bartlett
Audience Award
- Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins
- Produced by Jared Leto and Emma Ludbrook


text:
A debt consolidation mortgage is when you refinance your mortgage to incorporate all your high interest debts into one payment – your mortgage. Find an affordable home in need of TLC and transform it into that perfect home you always dreamed of; with new bathrooms, kitchen, and hardwood floors. Add the estimated costs of the renovation to your mortgage at the time of purchase to finance the entire renovation transformation without having to wait!
Debt Consolidation Benefits
- A much lower monthly interest rate that all your debts will now fall under
- Lower monthly payments
- The comfort and convenience of making only one monthly payment.
- Improved credit score from making all your payments on time.
Here's an example showing the effect on your monthly payments :


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A Trip Down Memory Lane: Mark Heisler Describes the "Elgin Baylor Nobody Knew"The L.A. Times' Mark Heisler explains that when the Lakers first moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles they had a superstar "nobody knew" and they were a team "nobody saw."
It is sad that some NBA fans may only know Elgin Baylor as the long-time L.A. Clippers' General Manager who is currently suing Clippers' owner Donald Sterling; in 1960-61, Baylor averaged 34.8 ppg, 18.8 rpg and 4.8 apg--numbers that are simply staggering.
I included Baylor in my Pantheon of pro basketball's greatest players.
Labels: Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, L.A. Lakers, Mark Heisler
posted by David Friedman @ 10:03 PM


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In this exercise, you need to pick a product and draw it in a basic, complex, qualitative, quantitative, static and dynamic way.
If you cannot think of a product, then I would suggest the apple watch! It is definitely a special object and you can analyse it easily in the different 6 options.
For example, think about customer characteristics or profiles.
You can also compare the watch to the other apple products or to other companies.
Maybe you even find some numbers online for a quantitative perspective?
If watches are not your thing - choose a different apple product or any other product you prefer.
It is not about the product, but about visually thinking and representing an object from different perspectives.
Have fun!


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Mike Sodrel on Education
Former Republican Representative (IN-9, 2005-2007)
Proponents support voting YES because:
I believe that our Pledge of Allegiance with its use of the phrase "under God" is entirely consistent with our Nation's cultural and historic traditions. I also believe that the Court holding that use of this phrase is unconstitutional is wrong. But this court-stripping bill is not necessary. This legislation would bar a Federal court, including the Supreme Court, from reviewing any claim that challenges the recitation of the Pledge on first amendment grounds.
If we are a Nation of laws, we must be committed to allowing courts to decide what the law is. This bill is unnecessary and probably unconstitutional. It would contradict the principle of Marbury v. Madison, intrude on the principles of separation of powers, and degrade our independent Federal judiciary.
Opponents support voting NO because:
I was disappointed 4 years ago when two judges of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that our Pledge, our statement of shared national values, was somehow unconstitutional. I do not take legislation that removes an issue from the jurisdiction of this court system lightly. This legislation is appropriate, however, because of the egregious conduct of the courts in dealing with the Pledge of Allegiance.
By striking "under God" from the Pledge, the Court has shown contempt for the Congress which approved the language, and, more importantly, shows a complete disregard for the millions of Americans who proudly recite the Pledge as a statement of our shared national values and aspirations. No one is required to recite the Pledge if they disagree with its message.
|2010 Governor, House and Senate candidates on Education:
|Mike Sodrel on other issues:
IN Gubernatorial:
Mitch Daniels
IN Senatorial:
Daniel Coats
Richard Lugar
Dem. Freshmen
in 112th Congress:
AL-7:Terri Sewell
CA-33:Karen Bass
DE-0:John Carney
FL-17:Frederica Wilson
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa
LA-2:Cedric Richmond
MA-10:Bill Keating
MI-13:Hansen Clarke
RI-1:David Cicilline
GOP Freshmen
in 112th Congress:
AL-2:Martha Roby
AL-5:Mo Brooks
AZ-1:Paul Gosar
AZ-3:Ben Quayle
AZ-5:David Schweikert
AR-1:Rick Crawford
AR-2:Tim Griffin
AR-3:Steve Womack
CA-19:Jeff Denham
CO-3:Scott Tipton
CO-4:Cory Gardner
FL-12:Dennis Ross
FL-2:Steve Southerland
FL-21:Mario Diaz-Balart
FL-22:Allen West
FL-24:Sandy Adams
FL-25:David Rivera
FL-5:Rich Nugent
FL-8:Dan Webster
GA-2:Mike Keown
GA-7:Rob Woodall
GA-8:Austin Scott
ID-1:Raul Labrador
IL-8:Joe Walsh
IL-10:Bob Dold
IL-11:Adam Kinzinger
IL-14:Randy Hultgren
IL-17:Bobby Schilling
IL-8:Joe Walsh
IN-3:Marlin Stutzman
IN-4:Todd Rokita
IN-8:Larry Bucshon
IN-9:Todd Young
KS-1:Tim Huelskamp
KS-3:Kevin Yoder
KS-5:Mike Pompeo
LA-3:Jeff Landry
MD-1:Andy Harris
MI-1:Dan Benishek
MI-2:Bill Huizenga
MI-3:Justin Amash
MI-7:Tim Walberg
MN-8:Chip Cravaack
MO-4:Vicky Hartzler
MO-7:Billy Long
MS-1:Alan Nunnelee
MS-4:Steven Palazzo
GOP Freshmen
in 111th Congress:
NC-2:Renee Ellmers
ND-0:Rick Berg
NH-2:Charlie Bass
NH-1:Frank Guinta
NJ-3:Jon Runyan
NM-2:Steve Pearce
NV-3:Joe Heck
NY-13:Michael Grimm
NY-19:Nan Hayworth
NY-20:Chris Gibson
NY-24:Richard Hanna
NY-25:Ann Marie Buerkle
NY-29:Tom Reed
OH-1:Steve Chabot
OH-15:Steve Stivers
OH-16:Jim Renacci
OH-18:Bob Gibbs
OH-6:Bill Johnson
OK-5:James Lankford
PA-10:Tom Marino
PA-11:Lou Barletta
PA-3:Mike Kelly
PA-7:Patrick Meehan
PA-8:Mike Fitzpatrick
SC-1:Tim Scott
SC-3:Jeff Duncan
SC-4:Trey Gowdy
SC-5:Mick Mulvaney
SD-0:Kristi Noem
TN-3:Chuck Fleischmann
TN-4:Scott DesJarlais
TN-6:Diane Black
TN-8:Stephen Fincher
TX-17:Bill Flores
TX-23:Quico Canseco
TX-27:Blake Farenthold
VA-2:Scott Rigell
VA-5:Robert Hurt
VA-9:Morgan Griffith
WA-3:Jaime Herrera
WI-7:Sean Duffy
WI-8:Reid Ribble
WV-1:David McKinley
Civil Rights
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Social Security
Tax Reform
Main Page
IN politicians


text:
|System: DS
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: Capcom
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: Capcom
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: Aug. 7, 2007
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1 (Online Trading)
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Everyone
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
by Cole Smith
Mega Man Star Force marks a return to the Mega Man series. We've seen just about every genre configured to the series including action, shooting, strategy, turn-based, real-time, and RPG elements. Star Force is similar to Battle Network, but not so similar that gamers will be crying foul. It retains RPG elements, but it's got a streamlined combat system that really kicks butt. The gameplay is fast and intense, which comes at the expense of some depth, but you'll be too busy having fun to notice.
Mega Man Star Force is available in three flavors: Pegasus, Leo, and Dragon. Each game plays virtually identically with the exception of your elemental affiliation. This affiliation will allow you to execute an exclusive special attack. For instance, Pegasus is associated with ice. Your "Star Force Big Bang" attack will freeze your foes. Leo is associated with fire, and the Dragon is associated with the color green. The green attack turns the grid into grass, which hinders the enemy's moves. Although these elementals respond differently to the collectible Battle Cards collected in the game, the gameplay is so similar I would only recommend getting one of these games. You can share cards with friends who have the other two elementals.
Mega Man is no longer an avatar. He's not controlled by another virtual character. The character actually becomes him. Although he's controlled in the third-person, you're one step closer to being Mega Man. With all new characters, new gameplay elements, and an interesting storyline, Star Force does the series proud. It's familiar, but possesses enough new elements to satiate rabid MM fans. The gameplay is relatively short if you just want to blast through it. Collecting items and undertaking the various side quests will add plenty of replay value to the game should you decide to purchase it. A rental is recommended at the very least. There is a Wi-Fi component, but it's not true multiplayer in that you can only trade and share online and not engage in head-to-head battles.
Geo Stelar, or Rob Zombie as I call him (you can rename him), is the principal character. He's a good boy and you're made to feel sorry for him after you discover his father was killed in a space station explosion. Eventually, you find out that it wasn't an accident, but the work of aliens from the planet FM. Upon meeting one of the good aliens, whom insists you call him Mega, a union is formed by a system called the BrotherBand which assimilates the two life forms into one. Thus Mega Man is born.
This adventure encompasses two realms: the real world and the virtual Wave World where you will do battle with the aliens. In the real world, you will travel to different locations conversing with people, exploring the environment, and looking for items to collect. Random battles are plentiful and will require that you enter in the Wave World. In place of Chips, you use Battle Cards in combat. These cards will give you various powers, which you will use against your enemies. These cards give you special attacks, increased power, weapons, and health. During battles, you will sometimes face more than one enemy. Combos are available that will allow you to target two enemies at the same time. More cards will be accumulated as you progress. There is a good assortment of cards, but you don't have to use them all if you don't want to. You can bring your favorites into battle with you as you customize your deck.
Unlike Battle Network, the grid system is more restricted. It's only three-by-five, and not three-by-six. You can only move on the grid line closest to you, but you are able to lock on to enemies as well as shoot at them from anywhere on the grid, as long as you have the right ability engaged. Mega Man stands in front of you as you activate the Battle Cards. Weapons such as the Sword will drain the enemy's power, while bombs, rockets, and missiles will help compound the destruction. Other abilities include recovery power, which comes in handy when your enemy comes on strong. A great addition to the weapons list is a shield, which can help you block most attacks. It's virtually indestructible and will withstand all but the most powerful of attacks, as long as it's activated at the right time. It can only be activated for a few seconds. After that, you better have some recovery cards on hand.


text:
Road no go as bridge work begins
5:30am Friday 15th August 2014 in News
THE bridge over the railway at Stratton Green on Swindon Road is to be reconstructed as part of Network Rail's Great Western Electrification Programme.
The reconstruction is essential to enable a new fleet of longer, faster and greener electric trains to serve commuters in Wiltshire, travelling on the route from Cardiff to London. The rebuilt bridge will be higher, creating the additional space needed for the overhead lines, which will power the trains to run underneath.
To complete the work, which starts on November 10, a road closure will be put in place on November 17 for approximately 20 weeks. Throughout this time pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to access the bridge.
Andrew Haynes, project director for Network Rail, said: "Significant work is required on this bridge in order to prepare it for electrification and the benefits this will bring.
"We understand that this temporary closure could inconvenience those who live and work in the area, and we are working closely with Swindon Borough Council to minimise disruption and complete the work in as short a timeframe as possible.
"We will be holding a public event in September to explain more about the work we are undertaking and to provide an opportunity for people to ask questions. More details about this event will be available shortly."
Showbiz news
Lott rooting for Strictly co-stars
Daley models teen clothing range
Braff: This film is my life's quest
Mendes and Gosling 'have baby girl'
Jim Carter: No galloping romance


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7 Stress Beating Foods (A Day In The Life At Work)
January 25, 2010 by Shaun
Filed under The Fitness Bug
In last weeks post, I went into detail of how you can overcome the things that can cause delays during your life as a bodybuilder. One of the things I covered was how you can overcome stress from work, and how not to let work interrupt your weightlifting routine by 'Identifying the office athlete'.
But today, I'm going to take things one-step further. I'm going to take you through
'A day in a life at work'
And I'm going to share with you 7 foods that you can eat at 7 key points of the working day that will help ease stress.
7.00am – The Morning Rush/ Gridlock
Regardless of which city you are in (London, New York, Tokyo, Beijing), that morning commute may often come to a halt because of some 'signal failure' on the train and add an extra half hour to your commute 'time to call the office'. That would have just given you extra unnecessary worry. Since you are already running late, you might as well take a pit stop and drink something to calm you down.
Agony Antidote
I do like Starbucks and I have my favorite picks every time I go there. But when you find yourself stressed first thing in the morning, try this for starters.
Skim-milk chai latte and half a bagel with cream cheese
The bagel = Carbs = Energy
The Milk = Protein = Alertness
That should get you back on track for the next few hours ahead.
10.00am – Your Time to Shine… Gets Screwed Up
You have a big presentation in your department meeting and for some reason, the IT support guy forgot to reserve the projector for you the day before, leaving you running around like a headless chicken looking for alternatives. That will stress you out for sure, especially if you have a point to prove to the head honchos.
Agony Antidote
Serotonin = one of your bodies stay calm chemicals
Tryptophan = this helps build up levels of serotonin
When you are stressed, the levels of serotonin in your body may drop considerably. When this happens you will want to quickly build up your levels of Tryptophan. All you need to do here is drink Milk!
12.00pm – Unexpected Invite to Lunch by the Boss
Because this is an unexpected invite, you have no idea what the Boss man has on his agenda for the next hour or so.
Agony Antidote
When it comes to food, go for a 'manly' salad. Add chicken and fish to the meal. Those foods will tickle his taste buds and appetite.
But why a salad?
Leafy greens – Arugula, chard, spinach
All are rich sources of vitamin B, which are known for activating your feel good hormones. Lack of vitamin B can actually leave you feeling quite nervous or even sometimes stressed. If you both have the feel good factor running in your veins for the next couple of hours, good things may just swing in your direction.
4.00pm – You F**k up a Pitch to a Client
When a pitch to a client goes smooth and well, you will feel like running into the men's room, taking a look at yourself in the mirror and kissing it. But when a pitch goes horribly wrong 'ironically on one of your biggest clients', it will feel like death has just warmed up. Stress!
Agony Antidote
M & M's (Peanut flavor)
The chocolate = Triggers the release of 'instant' relax endorphins
The nuts = Refills your protein stores and helps you regain focus
7.00 pm – Your lady is Angry (At You)
Your Lady ' What time do you call this! It's like the second week that you have worked late now. I think you are prioritizing work over ME!'
Very hostile! This probably means no sex too. 🙁
Agony Antidote
Grilled salmon
I've talked about the benefits of eating fish before back in Brain Foods for Working Out with salmon, mackerel and trout containing the highest level of fatty acids (Omega 3) of them all. But serving up a meal for two of this stuff will help reduce hostility in her by up to 20-25%
Your favorite (Baseball/ Football/ Basketball) Team is About to Lose
If you are a fan of sport and a devoted fan of a team, then I know you will be feeling edgy at this crucial time in the game. Stress!
Agony Antidote
Grab an Orange
You will probably be quite fixated at this time, and what you will need is a little sugar rush for a short burst of energy. Grabbing an orange will help keep your hands and mouth busy.
11.30pm – Can't Sleep?
Your team won the match, you called on your friends to gloat, it's time to hit the sack but realize you are wide awake from that sugar rush.
Agony Antidote
What you need to do is re-active your sleeping hormone, melatonin. And this is what you need to guzzle down to do so
That is oatmeal and bananas.
Everyone's day in a life at work will be different for sure, but all of you will face similar situations as the ones mentioned above. When you do, you now know what actions you need to take.
Stress? I don't even know the meaning of the word! 😉
See you in the comments.
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Files in directory /skins of check-in 91ccde50a003cff5
Built-in Skins
Each subdirectory under this folder describes a built-in "skin". There are four files in each subdirectory for the CSS, the "details" file, the footer, and the header for that skin.
To improve an existing built-in skin, simply edit the appropriate files and recompile.
To add a new skin:
Create a new subdirectory under skins/. (The new directory is called "skins/newskin" below but you should use a new original name, of course.)
Add files skins/newskin/css.txt, skins/newskin/details.txt, skins/newskin/footer.txt and skins/newskin/header.txt. Be sure to "fossil add" these files.
Go to the src/ directory and rerun "tclsh makemake.tcl". This step rebuilds the various makefiles so that they have dependencies on the skin files you just installed.
Edit the BuiltinSkin[] array near the top of the src/skins.c source file so that it describes and references the "newskin" skin.
Type "make" to rebuild.
Development Hints
One way to develop a new skin is to copy the baseline files (css.txt, details.txt, footer.txt, and header.txt) into a working directory $WORKDIR then launch Fossil with a command-line option "--skin $WORKDIR". Example:
cp -r skins/default newskin
fossil ui --skin ./newskin
When the argument to --skin contains one or more '/' characters, the appropriate skin files are read from disk from the directory specified. So after launching fossil as shown above, you can edit the newskin/css.txt, newskin/details.txt, newskin/footer.txt, and newskin/header.txt files using your favorite text editor, then press Reload on your browser to see immediate results.


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Women's Dresses(0 items)
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Women / Dresses RELATED SEARCHES
Do femininity with flare in ZAFUL dresses. This season we're seeing a resurgence of elegance in women's dresses for all occasions. No matter what style you're looking for, our e-shop is always open and jam-packed with summer dresses poised to make a statement.
Since it's summer time, a sundress is a natural go-to. But this year, the rules are meant to be bent. Shy away from the sunshine in a counter-intuitive long sleeve dress to cover the arms, or go for maxi dresses for a slimming, goddess-like look.
Glam up for hot nights out in party dresses for evening occasions. The wrap dress, for example, are sophisticated versions of the toga. Midi dresses with some pumps can be a great way to smooth out and slim down your figure. And the little black dress with a clutch purse is a stunning way to present yourself in situations where you want to make a great first impressoin. These and many more are included in ZAFUL's selection of semi formal dresses. Don't pass up the chance to make a sweeping entrance in beautiful evening dresses, especially for big occasions like an outdoor wedding or prom. Here at ZAFUL, you'll be able to find the hottest styles, such as black prom dresses.
Some additional styles we're going to be hauling your way include exciting prints and colors. Floral has yet to die down, so we'll see print and embroidered floral dresses of every style. You can also incorporate color into your closet to reflect your personality. This season a purple dress would be a suitable way to put off regal vibes. A blue dress could be a very versatile part of your wardrobe, as blue can be suited for many occasions. We would be amiss to forget to mention the classic white dress, a cute way to show off your bronzing skin. Finally, a red dress could be worn to add zest to social occasions.
Get your fix of cute dresses here at ZAFUL!


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Campaigning against the influence of creationism in the UK Science Classroom
Moderator: Moderators
Peter Henderson wrote:My question to YECs is this Ashley. If a non believer (like Nye for example) accepted Christ and was saved, but still rejected YECism would YEC groups like AiG and CMI give thanks another lost soul had found the Lord ?
They refuse point blankly to answer this question directly. All I get is "We have never said that you must be a YEC in order to be a Christian" waffle. As we know, this is not what their followers believe.
Yet, they continually repeat the line their ultimate aim is to lead people to Christ ??????????
I think they are hypocrites.
Peter Henderson wrote:Can't really see anything Ashley. Which post is it on ?
a_haworthroberts wrote:Peter Henderson wrote:Can't really see anything Ashley. Which post is it on ?
He's posted a screenshot of your recent comment under the opening comment: "Many anti-creationists are shallow thinkers but fancy themselves deeply intellectual. (This one used "guilt by association" one time to call me stupid because I like "Ian Jubby".) Instead of reasoning ability, people like this have rebellion against God and hatred for his people. -Cowboy Bob"
(Earlier this evening I was having problems cutting and pasting onto the BCSE website.)
I can see how you can be a believer and be OEC or TE. I don't see how you can be saved and STAY there.
a_haworthroberts wrote:"Why do our critics sincerely believe that we are lying?"
"Why are our critics sometimes genuinely angered by our claims and our behaviour?"
"Why do vast numbers of people, including many Christians, sincerely believe that we are wrong on scientific matters?"
It's called putting yourself in the other person's shoes.
archaeologist55 wrote:The truth does not need a majority to be the truth
Assuming by 'truth' were talking in common terms about the correspondence theory of truth or as Aquinas put it
Provide a hypothesis for the existence of cyclothems in the geological column within the context of a global flood model that can be confirmed through observation or experiment?
Otherwise please stop trying to make God scientifically falsifiable by insisting that Genesis is a literal explanation of creation against all theological sense and scientific knowledge.
archaeologist55 wrote:Assuming by 'truth' were talking in common terms about the correspondence theory of truth or as Aquinas put it
Who said Aquinas was correct? Since he was not inspired by God nor wrote scripture we do not have to listen to him.
Since Noah's flood, let alone the special creation of all animal species, cannot be observed or replicated, you are in no position to demand than anyone believe in them.archaeologist55 wrote:Since the original conditions that started life, since the supposed original ancestor , and since the process of evolution cannot be observed at any time nor replicated by secular science, you are in no position to demand anything.
archaeologist55 wrote:and since the process of evolution cannot be observed at any time nor replicated by secular science
Return to Conversations with Creationists
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Phi Theta Kappa Info Session
The purpose of Phi Theta Kappa shall be to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students. To achieve this purpose, Phi Theta Kappa shall provide opportunity for the development of leadership and service, for an intellectual climate for exchange of ideas and ideals, for lively fellowship for scholars, and for stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.
To qualify for Phi theta Kappa, students must have completed 12 college level credits and have a 3.5 GPA. Come to this session in the Fireside Room (K 1450) to find out more!


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A team of four Hope College mathematics students won the "Jeopardy" contest at the national MathFest conference in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, July 30.
The members of the Hope team were senior Forrest Gordon of Rockford; senior Dan Lithio of Downers Grove, Ill.; sophomore Zachary Mitchell of Stevensville; and junior Blair Williams of Fenton. They defeated teams from Lafayette College, Texas A&M and MountUnionCollege.
The competition's questions tested knowledge of mathematics, both in problem solving and general history. The Hope team went into "Final Jeopardy" with the most points and then answered the final question correctly to take the victory.
Their competition included a fellow Hope student. Ryan Johnson, a senior from Tomah, Wis., was a member of the team from Texas A&M, where he participated in a summer research program this summer.
The Jeopardy competition anticipated the formal start of this year's MathFest, which is the national meeting of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and running Thursday-Saturday, July 31-Aug. 2. In other activity during the conference, Lithio gave a talk, "How to serve a volleyball - mathematical modeling of volleyball dynamics," and faculty member Dr. Tim Pennings is giving an invited talk with his canine co-author, Elvis, in conjunction with receiving the association's George Polya Award with co-author Dr. Ronald Minton of Roanoke College for their article "Do Dogs Know Bifurcations?"
Stephanie Edwards of the Hope mathematics faculty is also attending the conference. She mentored Mitchell in a graph theory problem this past summer, while Pennings mentored Gordon, Lithio and Williams in modeling and analysis research.


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27 March 2017 - STAMFORD, Conn. and LUCCA, Italy
New Research Reveals the Challenges of Financial Reporting; Shows Increased Demand for Narrative Reporting
200+ respondents cite time-intensive processes, lack of automation, integration of data sources, and last-minute changes among top headaches
Tagetik today revealed the results of a research survey on corporate financial reporting and the associated processes and challenges: "Modern Financial Reporting Challenges – How Well Do Your Reports Meet Stakeholder Needs?" One of the report's key findings is that much of the reporting done by the finance organization today includes significant amounts of narrative.
The survey, conducted during September 2016, had 202 managerial or executive respondents with responsibility for financial, corporate or regulatory reporting. Thirty-one percent of respondents worked for organizations with $1B or more in revenue, 29% worked for organizations with revenues ranging from $300M to $999M in revenue, and 39% were with organizations with $299M or less in revenue.
A key finding from the report was that 44% of respondents indicated that their reports have as much, or more, narrative information than financial information.
This trend is juxtaposed with other survey results showing that most organizations do not have efficient tools and processes in place to automate information collection, report creation, review and approval, or validation.
• 95% of respondents still rely on Excel for report creation;
• Stand-alone PowerPoint (65%) and Word (48%) are also heavily used;
• 96% of respondents use email to collect information for reporting;
• 32% of respondents said their reports contain information from six or more different sources;
• 30% of respondents involve four or more departments in the reporting process.
"This shift from primarily number-focused reporting to more narrative-centric reporting is the result of an expectation for finance to provide much more than just accurate financial reports. Finance should also be providing business insights and strategic guidance to executives and other stakeholders," explained Dave Kasabian, Tagetik chief marketing officer. "It is the narrative that tells the story behind the numbers and elevates the value of the information that finance delivers to both internal and external stakeholders. The problem is that most finance organizations spend so much time collecting, consolidating and validating the numbers that they don't have sufficient time to focus on the supporting narrative.
"Given this disconnect, it's not surprising that, according to the survey, a lack of automation and time-intensive preparation are respondents' two biggest concerns, followed by lack of data integration and control and last-minute changes," said Kasabian. "The survey also shows that almost 40% of respondents recognize that the workflow processes currently in place – for managing contributions, reviews, and approvals – are inadequate."
"Narrative is a highly important element of modern financial reporting," said Manuel Vellutini, Tagetik co-CEO. "Not only does it add color to the black-and-white picture of a company's financial state, but it also serves to provide the critical analyses and explanations behind the numbers to support business strategy. Finance has a great opportunity to use the reporting process to deliver more value. But they can't do that with traditional reporting and analysis tools. Our Collaborative Office solution was designed specifically to address the challenges highlighted in this survey. Research like this helps us develop and deliver the solutions that finance needs to stay ahead of the curve"
To view the detailed survey results, along with a summary of key findings, click here.
For a graphical summary of survey results, click here.
To read Kasabian's most recent blog post, "Narrative Reporting: Excel and reporting tools come up short", click here.
For more information on Tagetik's Collaborative Office solutions, click here.
Request a Demo
Our personalized demo allows you to speak directly with a senior solution specialist and discover the key functionalities of CCH Tagetik.
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For more information, please complete the form and a member of our team will reach out to you shortly!


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Research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission found men are suffering more than women from the recession.
Young people are getting it worse than older people - the over-50s seem to dealing with the downturn better, maybe because they're prepared to be more flexible.
But if you're a disabled man with few qualifications, you're half as likely to be working now as in the 1970s. About 38 per cent of low-qualified disabled men are working now, compared to 77 per cent in the '70s.
Female employment has gone up three per cent since 1997 and black Caribbean women are more likely to be in full-time work than any other group of women.
The pay gap between men and women remains, even though women now outperform men at every level of education. The Commission found that progress in reducing the difference has all but stopped.
The difference is lowest for the under-30s but has gone up five-fold by the time workers reach 40.
Women workers aged 40 are paid on average 27 per cent less than 40-year-old men.
The numbers come from "How Fair is Britain" - the EHRC's three yearly report.
The summary is available here. ®


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I hesitated to make another post about a 'lying' YEC but decided to do so because the article in question was so bad and because the YEC is British and living here - so I'm re-posting an email sent yesterday:
Message as sent to AiG via their website:
"Burgess propaganda:
https://answersingenesis.org/evolution/ ... -the-gaps/
"Creationists are sometimes accused of ignoring scientific evidence and being anti-science. But belief in God in no way diminishes zeal for how life works." That is not a refutation, it is an EVASION.
Because you ARE science deniers and thus anti-science: "The only "science" that creationists do not use is the speculative science of evolution that has nothing to do with useful operational science." You do NOT get to tell the world that if it is not 'useful' it is 'not' science but 'science'. You have to prove evolution is false.
"Since evolution has no credible evidence ...". LIAR.
http://toddcwood.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09 ... ution.html
"That missing link is still missing today despite extensive searches for fossil evidence of evolution all over the world." LIAR. There are plenty of plausible candidate fossils.
"Fossil evidence shows that no ape-like creature has ever had an arched foot for walking upright." LIAR.


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Sneak peek at newest Barracks addition
The former site of Hollywood Video has a new look these days as the nameplate for Anthropologie, the Urban Outfitters Inc-owned retailer, has recently appeared in the north wing of Barracks Road Shopping Center. Construction continues to transform the old video rental shop, as the high-end women's retailer plans to open its doors Friday, August 21– exactly three months after Urban Outfitters opened on the Downtown Mall. The store carries high-end casual clothing and accessories, along with home furnishings.
5 comments
Irony that it is remembered as the old hollywood video. Before it was that it was (for an even longer time than hollywood video) an independent book store which had a really exceptional selection.
More Chains arriving in Cville! Is the architect for this project local, or is it corporate?
Speaking of Barracks Road, I heard that somebody's working on a Pizza place to open later this year. Anybody know where it's going in?
Bob - I had to laugh at your comment! My wife (who has roots here 13 generations deep) still refers to the location of the Hydraulic Rd. Kroger's as "the old drive-in theater", she refers to one of the Brown's car dealerships "the old Caravan," and we both refer to the shopping center where Advance Auto and Staples are as "the old Dart Shopper's World." And the new Barracks Rd addition is going in "the old Book Gallery."
Kind of seems like a Charlottesville thing. Maybe it's "What would Mr. Jefferson call it" issue?
Just heard today that high end apparel stores are the ones hardest hit in this save now buy later economy, wonder if these stores will make it.