Pretty!

Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.

Exclusive: Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the US government human resources agency locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials reut.rs/3CuCEPs

🥰😍

Trump administration offers most feds ‘deferred resignation’ if they agree to quit by next week The Trump administration is looking further scale down the size of the federal workforce by giving federal employees governmentwide the option to voluntarily resign from their positions in exchange for eight months of pay. In an email the Office of Personnel Management sent out to all federal employees Tuesday evening, the Trump administration offered most of the 2.2 million employees in the career federal workforce the option of resigning from their roles in what it called a “deferred resignation program.” Employees who choose to resign from their roles have to let OPM know of their decision by Feb. 6, according to the email, obtained by Federal News Network. The employees would be placed on paid administrative leave until the effective date of their resignation, which OPM said should be no later than Sept. 30. The email included a template message employees can use to inform OPM of their decision, if they plan to leave federal service in response to the administration’s offer. The news was first reported by Axios. “If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people,” the email states. The Trump administration said the resignation option is available to most federal employees across government, except for military personnel, U.S. Postal Service employees, those working in immigration or national security positions, and “those in any other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency.” Its unclear how the mass offer for voluntary resignations would work in practice. The federal government offers voluntary separation incentive payments, but there appears to be no precedent in the federal government of a “deferred resignation program.” The mass email comes after OPM tested a governmentwide communications system last week. A group of federal employees has since filed a lawsuit regarding the messaging system. OPM also outlined four pillars for what it said the Trump administration plans to use as the central points for its efforts to overhaul the federal workforce: returning to the office, performance culture, a more streamlined and flexible workforce, and enhanced standards of conduct. The pillars align with many of President Donald Trump’s executive actions involving the federal workforce so far, including a return-to-office directive, a federal hiring freeze and an effort to remove civil service protections from certain career federal employees. “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency,” the email states. OPM declined to comment further on the email and guidance sent Tuesday evening. The American Federation of Government Employees quickly responded to the news of the mass email from OPM offering resignations. “The number of civil servants hasn’t meaningfully changed since 1970, but there are more Americans than ever who rely on government services,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government. This offer should not be viewed as voluntary. Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.” In a subsequent OPM memo regarding the resignations, OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell additionally asked agencies to submit lists of the number of federal employees who ultimately choose to resign or who are applying for early or normal retirement, as well as any employees who later choose to rescind their resignations.The post Trump administration offers most feds ‘deferred resignation’ if they agree to quit by next week first appeared on Federal News Network.

Trump administration offers most feds ‘deferred resignation’ if they agree to quit by next week

There's that tree that fell down!

We don't have Costco here, but there are plenty of other alternatives to Amazon. I don't shop at Target, anyway.

🎉 News to celebrate: For the third time in a row, we earned top marks on the latest Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart!

Among 159 news sources, we stand out as a trusted provider of impartial information, landing squarely in the center of the partisan bias scale. app.adfontesmedia.com/chart/intera...

There’s One Way to Solve Homelessness in America. We’re Trying Something Else Instead. Well before Donald Trump took office, the country was pivoting to a more punitive approach to homelessness.

It’s especially tragic, advocates say, on the heels of an experiment that showed that allocating more money to keep people in housing could stop the homelessness crisis in its tracks.

So true, and the chaos of incompetent and malicious narcissists.

...and malice and incompetence aren't mutually exclusive.

It's important to remember to make a tiny burger for your cat.

Family includes everyone! ❤️

Martin Luther King Jr Day

I did this for trump and musk and my feed is SO MUCH BETTER now! 😍

I'm so sorry, Susan. I know you love her to the moon and back. Hugs xx ❤️

A four-panel comic called Instinct is Weird. In panel 1, a yellow warbler looks at a beautiful nest in a shrub and says "I made this for some reason". In panel 2, there are five eggs in the nest and she says "these are my smooth round children". In panel 3 an egg has hatched into a yelling hatchling, and she says "Oh no now it's loud". In panel 4 she looks distressed as five hatchlings now fill the nest, begging for food, and she says "help".

Hello new followers! Here's one of my favorite older comics.

A short memory, indeed!