Have Faith in Your Government

Even the Treasury, it seems, is not without a sense of humor. Included with my refund check (WOOHOO!) was an informational flier with the title "Don't Be a Victim of Predatory Lending or Other Bad Deals," which at first glance seemed like a thoughtful thing for the Treasury Department to include in this Era Of Madoff. Further inspection, however, revealed this delight in small print at the bottom:

For more free information, the U.S. Department of Treasury invites you to: visit www.mymoney.gov or text* "smart" to 22122 on your mobile phone.
* Standard message rates apply. Other charges may apply.

Now, if you're like me, and you stay up way past your bed time watching television programs that you could probably live without, you're well familiar with what "other charges may apply" tends to mean. For the uninitiated, it means that the recipient of your text will not only sell your phone number, they will also automatically sign you up for their own dodgy subscription service at an outlandish monthly rate. It seems like kind of a bad deal to me that the Treasury Department has been reduced to such practices to pay off the bailouts, but I guess everyone's just trying to get by as best they can these days.

Jerks.
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If it made sense...

... it wouldn't be government. Have you read Catch-22 lately? It's one of my favorite books of all time. In fact, I haven't read it lately. (Note to self: add it to the reading list) In any case, I think we should all aspire to be like ex-PFC Wintergreen. He's a true American hero.


"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22, and let out a respectful whistle." (Catch-22, page 47)



T.S. Eliot!
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Oh, government...

Laurie, I'd love to check out the government jobs! Unfortunately, either the software's junky or they didn't bother with compatibility for browsers other than IE and computers other than PCs. So my Firefox/Safari-lovin' Mac is out of luck.

Which is ironic, given that I'd be applying for a job to improve user processes just like that one, and now I can't. Because their portal sucks.

Your government, working against you!
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I found someone who's hiring

Hey Eliza, ever considered government work?

Wanted: 850 new FBI agents
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