FSA's Old Programs

This article about the possible conversion of VA health care programs from MUMPS to Java (based on success in similar conversions of legacy programs) raises the question:

Is there anyone out there who would offer to convert COBOL programs to Java for FSA?

License Plates in France

Dirk Beauregard blogs about license plates, the numbering system used in France and the new one used in the EU. Seems the French will now have lifetime license numbers, just as we can have lifetime phone numbers. The universally bureaucratic society creeps in on little cat feet.

Facebook: The Bureaucracy and I Have the Same Problem

Which is figuring out how to use the damn thing. See this article. (Actually, if I were in FSA, I'd try using it for internal communications, particularly field to DC. )

A Phrase I Never Thought to Hear

"boomer work ethic" --from a NY Times article on a financial company which hired boomers as temporary employees to answer phones complaining about their accounts.

I guess I'm brainwashed, but I never saw the boomers as conscientious employees, more like Sonny I guess.

Our Weak Government

I keep finding proof of our government's weakness. Here's another example--SSA is reliant on the states to process disability

The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country....

Claims are evaluated by state employees, but the federal government reimburses states for the salaries of those employees and pays the full cost of benefits for people found to be disabled.

“We pay the full freight,” Mr. Astrue said. “States do not save any money when they furlough or lay off these employees. They only delay payments to disabled citizens who rely on the monthly benefits.”

The point being, if you have to depend on people who don't report to you, your power is limited.

FSA and Stimulus Dollars II

FSA still has no plans or reports up on the USDA website. I guess they're still waiting for some political leadership to be appointed. The USDA spreadsheet does show some data for FSA programs.. It's interesting that, if you come to the USDA site from recovery.gov, you get a different page than you do if you click on the "Agency Plans and Reports" link from the USDA home site.

A note: the recovery.org site seems to be beating the government bureaucrats to display data on the stimulus package.

Did Cinderella Live Happily in Glass Slippers?

The obligatory post on Susan Boyle.

USDA Garden?

Obama Foodorama posts on the planting of an organic garden outside the ivory tower, I mean the Administration building of USDA. Mostly photos, with a promise of text later. I note they're following the example of the Obama garden and using lots of seedlings. I don't find any publicity for it on the USDA site, although I do note a bunch of appointments (14) mostly of former campaign workers to confidential assistant type posts.

To provide a touch of reality to the hype about the Obama and USDA gardens, the Post's garden editor had a column today, recounting all the hazards beginning gardeners have to negotiate.

Early Days in Colorado

The New Yorker has a nice piece about two women from Auburn, NY who went to rural Colorado (Elkhead) in the early 20th century as an adventure to teach school. [Registration required to read the whole piece.] But there's an audio slide show here which is open to all (though you don't get the love story).
I like it, a bit of romance, a glimpse of the past, some upsetting of stereotypes about who the settlers were.

Taxes

Just filed my tax returns. :-) Obviously I can't complain, since my retirement pay is from the taxpayers.

One thought, however, if you could move to any other place in the United States, with the same compensation you have now, would you do it? (I'd have to see some cash on the barrelhead before moving, but not much for some places.)

How about moving to any other country in the world, with the same compensation you have now, would you do it? If not, how much more money would it require for you to move?