Posts By GeekChick

KSAs: a Realistic Response to a Ridiculous Question

Anyone who’s had to respond to KSAs (that’s “Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities” to those of you fortunate enough to have avoided them) knows how ridiculous they can be. And if you are in the Forest Service, you’ve seen an increase in this ridiculousness in our post-ASC world. (ASC is the FS’s consolidated HR office. AllRead… Read more »

Left Wing, My Eye!

I am really, really tired of hearing right-wing nutjobs call Obama and other elected Democrats “liberals.” I am tired of hearing tales of the mythical Liberal Media, which allegedly brainwashes us with left-wing bilge. And today, I heard the coups de gras: some dorkwad (O’Reilly or Hannity, I think) called Obama a “left wing radical.”Read… Read more »

Health Care: Should We Settle for Less?

Recently, I’ve had a few discussions with friends regarding the current Senate health care bill. Is the death of the public option ok, since it got Medicare eligibility lowered to 55? That helps some people, right? More than are helped now, right? So that’s good, right? Wrong. We have apparently been subjected to the obstructionistRead… Read more »

Insurance Recission: What You Need to Know.

A terrible crime is being committed against the American public: recission. This is when a private insurance company revokes your policy because of some technicality (whether real or fabricated). And what do you know, this tends to happen right after you’ve been diagnosed with a major illness! Thake the case of Jerome Mitchell, 17 yearRead… Read more »

Health Care: Shouldn’t everyone have what we have?

Single Payer. Public Option. Private insurance and free markets. It’s pretty hard to make sense of the health care debate sometimes. Especially when the public “discussion” doesn’t even deal with facts. (Don’t worry, I’m not going to get into a debate on all that here). Those of you who’ve read my past blogs know myRead… Read more »

Racism: Alive and Well in Today’s Politics

The Huffington Post reports on comments made by RNC chairman Michael Steele: The Young Republicans convention was held in Indianapolis last weekend and their election of a racist, middle-aged woman as President isn’t the only controversial item to come out of the GOP gathering. Local Republican blog Hoosier Access was able to get RNC ChairmanRead… Read more »

Torture: Do the Ends Justify the Means?

Lately our public dialogue about torture has taken a very frightening turn. No longer is it “did we or didn’t we.” Now it’s become “Yeah we did it. It worked, so it’s ok.” If the last 8 years hadn’t already numbed me to this kind of statement, I would be shocked and sickened. Let’s presumeRead… Read more »

Leadership: When the Horse Refuses to Drink

A few years ago I decided it was time to actually use my leadership skills, rather than just possess them. It was time to put my money where my mouth was. After much relfection, I realized that one of my strongest skills was as a “cheerleader” for whatever cause was at hand. Rallying the troops,Read… Read more »