This is the archive for the Burn Bag submissions published in this blog. The accompanying date is when the item appears on this blog. About the Burn Bag read: Burn Bag Submissions Accepted: Because It’s Cheaper Than Therapy. To recap, here are the blog rules for the burn bag submission:
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05/17/13
“Who is going to say it? With all respect, Chris Stevens decided – he decided – to go to Benghazi. His choice. And couldn’t the energy used now on the fingerpointing and fall-guying be used better to actually make some changes? Hello? We’re still out here, all over the world.”
05/12/13
“A recent CODEL cost taxpayers $25,000. Main purpose? The senator’s lover wanted to shop at the overseas post.”
05/07/13
“Would you feel safe if your missions security for off compound personnel movements, which were previously done by U.S. citizen contractors, are now being done by a local police force that is an un designated terrorist organization according to U.S. terrorism laws? Yeah, as you can guess it all comes down to $$$$ and nothing to do with being safer.”
05/03/13
“Not sure which is more fun: colleagues who run to the principal when things don’t go their way, or principals (read: DCMs) who challenge employees based on hearsay, under the guise of “mentoring.” Can’t we all act like grown-ups, you know, like they do in the real world?!”
o5/01/13
“Isn’t it illegal for a CDO [career development officer] to serve on AFSA’s Board?” http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/22/52/X/4112
04/24/13
“When sending negative news to post from the mothership via e-mail, at least have the decency to sign your name at the end of the message.”
04/18/13
“Encourage all voting AFSA members to look into the conditions under which candidates left their previous posts.”
04/16/13
“If September arrives and NEA has not made a management change in Cairo that brings in principals who take the security situation here seriously, I’ll be considering curtailment — and I know others who are already planning exit strategies.”
04/12/13
“I’m not sure how I feel about CDA suddenly pretending to care about entry level officers.”
04/09/13
“They came over the wall and post management still believes we are safe. #Trapped.”
04/08/13
After another Twitter tempest, the ambassador “goes back to Washington for a week of consultations on (snip). Love to be a fly on those walls.”
03/28/13
“You see these pesky rumors circulating about our ambassador in a hot zone which has been repeatedly denied? The striking thing about these articles is their tone: good riddance.”
03/26/13
“The MC [minister counselor] that heads my section thinks he/she is a great mentor, but just makes me want to never be in the Senior Foreign Service if it means having to be as insufferable as him/her.”
03/22/13
“The couple has separated with intent to divorce. At least I hope that’s the case or the ambassador’s girlfriend in [insert city] would require some explanation.”
03/20/13
“Unlike Mr. Carson of Downton Abbey, I have to work for a boss that I do not respect.”
3/9/2013
“The curfew at my embassy (we have to take motorpool everywhere) is earlier than the curfew I had in JUNIOR HIGH.”
02/17/13
“We write cables, submit lengthy required reports, and upload tons of information to various websites. Yet, no one reads it. Worse yet, research skills have all but disappeared. I have stopped forwarding documents when asked for them, and even the hyperlinks to them, and instead suggest my Washington-based colleagues google them instead.”
02/11/13
“Secretary JK changed the font for 7th floor paper from 14 pt TNR (Times New Roman) to 12pt TNR. All over the building desk officers are reveling in the extra 100 words that now fit on a call sheet.”
02/09/13
“Stretch positions are the greatest racket of the Foreign Service. We compete for greater responsibility and more work…. for no credit and the same pay? Great idea!”
02/06/13
“One can only take so much women’s coffee club meetings. Why do I even go?”
1/31/13
“Rule 23 for FS Sanity: Never read your boss’ EER.”
1/25/13
“It’s January, time to launch the 2013-EER cycle of faux-complishments.”
1/21/13
“After watching 3 marriages (in 18 months) at post break-up because of the husband’s dalliance with a local lady, it’s disheartening to see the Ambassador with a host-country-nationality girlfriend.”
1/18/13
“My DCM pees all over the floor in the bathroom. I know this because there is only one bathroom for the entire front office/pol section, and he’s the only guy who works there. (I assume the women aren’t hovering 8 inches in front of the toilet.)”
1/17/13
“I would have realized from the outset that State will always seek its interest first and I’d act accordingly to take care of my own interests. I don’t mind it now but it was hard to have that come to light in a tough time.”
1/15/13
“Why are so many FS blogs so self-obsessive? It makes me want to retch.”
1/13/13
“I just read the Department notice about all the people who got Department awards this year, and almost every single one of them are men! This place is men giving awards to other men.”
1/10/13
“Sometimes, I look around at Department senior leadership, and think, ‘If I ever become this insufferable, I’ll deserve that posting to Lagos.’ Of course, SFS don’t serve in Lagos.”
1/8/13
“I was madly in love with a FSO once; he did not think I was ambassadorial wife material. Is it wrong to feel glad that he’s still waiting for 1) the right wife, and 2) to become an ambassador?”
1/4/2013
“If I could live those days at post over, I would do things differently. But life does not work that way.”
