So While We Starve
So That's What 'Laminated' Means
By Al Kamen
Friday, September 19, 2008; A17
The House Natural Resources Committee roughed up Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne yesterday over those fun-loving employees in Colorado who took gifts and free trips, used drugs and had sex with employees from the oil and gas companies they were supposed to oversee.
Kempthorne naturally said he'd get a handle on it, promising to appoint someone in the Denver office to monitor ethics, maybe fire some people and do random drug testing.
But let's not overlook the fact that the Office of Government Ethics this month awarded the department its 2008 Education and Communication Award for "developing a dynamic laminated Ethics Guide for employees." Yes, indeed, "this polished, professional guide has colorful pictures and prints which demand employees' attention." Beautiful shots of a mountain lion, a moose, magnificent vistas.
The guide is small enough to carry in your pocket, the OGE announcement says, so you can refer to it whenever temptation lurks: "The guide features tabs on a variety of ethics topics." Indeed, the section on gifts clearly shows that the lodging, meals, transportation, golf outings and such that the employees gobbled up are no-no's.
Yet it may not be enough. We could find no clear response in the guide to that Colorado employee's assertion that she did not consider a "one-night stand" with an oil company employee to be an improper "relationship." Maybe there's a three-night minimum? And there's not a peep about the ethical implications of snorting meth off a toaster oven or any other kitchen appliance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091803967_pf.html
A toaster? Really? Were there no jewel cases to cut lines with? I'm glad meth heads get to climb the ladder.
And we all know that fuck all will happen to 'em.
By Al Kamen
Friday, September 19, 2008; A17
The House Natural Resources Committee roughed up Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne yesterday over those fun-loving employees in Colorado who took gifts and free trips, used drugs and had sex with employees from the oil and gas companies they were supposed to oversee.
Kempthorne naturally said he'd get a handle on it, promising to appoint someone in the Denver office to monitor ethics, maybe fire some people and do random drug testing.
But let's not overlook the fact that the Office of Government Ethics this month awarded the department its 2008 Education and Communication Award for "developing a dynamic laminated Ethics Guide for employees." Yes, indeed, "this polished, professional guide has colorful pictures and prints which demand employees' attention." Beautiful shots of a mountain lion, a moose, magnificent vistas.
The guide is small enough to carry in your pocket, the OGE announcement says, so you can refer to it whenever temptation lurks: "The guide features tabs on a variety of ethics topics." Indeed, the section on gifts clearly shows that the lodging, meals, transportation, golf outings and such that the employees gobbled up are no-no's.
Yet it may not be enough. We could find no clear response in the guide to that Colorado employee's assertion that she did not consider a "one-night stand" with an oil company employee to be an improper "relationship." Maybe there's a three-night minimum? And there's not a peep about the ethical implications of snorting meth off a toaster oven or any other kitchen appliance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091803967_pf.html
A toaster? Really? Were there no jewel cases to cut lines with? I'm glad meth heads get to climb the ladder.
And we all know that fuck all will happen to 'em.