Daily Archives: March 14, 2014

Confirmations: Barry Heyman, Puneet Talwar, Dwight L. Bush Sr, Timothy M. Broas , Arun Madhavan Kumar

March 14, 2014 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations, Congress, Nominations, State Department, Top Ranks, U.S. Missions, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

— Domani Spero

On March 12, the U.S. Senate confirmed the following State Department nominee by voice vote:

  • Bruce Heyman, of IL, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Canada

On March 13, the U.S. Senate confirmed a few more:

  • Puneet Talwar – to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Political-Military Affairs)
  • Dwight L. Bush, Sr – to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Morocco
  • Timothy M. Broas – to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
  • Arun Madhavan Kumar – to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service (FCS)

Below is Ambassador Broas in an intro video produced by the State Dept’s Bureau of International Information Programs where he talks about his Dutch ancestry and how he wants to connect with the people of the Netherlands! 

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US Embassy Dublin: 5 Ways Americans Invented St. Patrick’s Day

March 14, 2014 By in Foreign Service, Holidays and Celebrations, Social Media, U.S. Missions, Video of the Week Tags: , , , , ,

— Domani Spero

The Irish Times writes, “five ways Americans invented St Patrick’s Day, apparently.”

One YouTube commenter says, “Corn-beef and cabbage isn’t a tradition here it is potatoes and steak.” Another writes, “Obviously a joke just not funny.”

From somebody not/not happy about this:

“Americans did not invent Saint Patrick’s Day, which is an ancient Christian feast day, they just invented deeply tacky celebrations with an excess of lurid green elements (tolerable shades do exist) and inappropriate Scottish kilts (which Irish people do not wear), fake leprechaun outfits (leprechauns do not wear green) and fake-coloured quasi-“red” beards (leprechauns do not have red hair). It is noteworthy how leprechauns are never seen any more; they have been shamed into deeper reclusiveness than ever.”

From somebody who just love St. Patty’s Day Saint Paddy’s Day:

“Love St. Patrick’s Day Parades!! The one in St. Louis, Mo is great fun. Just visited Ireland and loved it. Everyone wants a bit of Ireland, so green pints, rivers and parades. Americans love to invent holidays, it means getting together for the parade and the the pints. Just glad it was invented!!”

Don’t pinch us, we’re wearing a non-tacky green leprechaun outfit on Monday!!

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Quote of the Day: “Take responsible risks…Don’t take a big crazy risk … Mm…hmm

March 14, 2014 By in Foreign Service, FS Blogs, FSOs, Leadership and Management, Media, Quotes, Realities of the FS, Social Media, Spouses, State Department, Technology and Work, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

— Domani Spero

Here is Doug Frantz, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs via nextgov.com:

“Social media is an interactive platform, so if you wait to come back to the State Department to get clearance on how to respond to a question over Twitter it will take days if not weeks and the conversation will be over,” Frantz said. “So you want people to be engaged. You want them to be willing and able to take responsible risks…Don’t take a big crazy risk and try to change our policy on Iran, but if you’re behaving responsibly, we can expect small mistakes.”

In many ways, the department is vulnerable to those risks whether or not officials are actively engaging on social media.

Frantz cited the case of a diplomatic security officer and his wife who were expelled from India after making derogatory comments about the country on their personal Facebook pages. “I tell people never tweet anything you don’t want to see on the front page of the Washington Post,” Frantz said.

We should be impressed at this enlightened approach of employees being allowed to afford small mistakes.  Except that elements of the State Department continue to harass Foreign Service bloggers who write in their private capacity on blogs and other social media sites.  Remember my Conversation with Self About Serial Blog Killers and the 21st Century Statecraft?  Different folks get on and off the bus, but this is just as real today.

Harassment, as always, is conducted without a paper trail unless, it’s a PR nightmare like Peter Van Buren, in which case, there is a paper trail.  So an FSO-blogger’s difficulties in obtaining an onward assignment has nothing to do with his/her blog, or his/her tweets. Just bad luck of the draw, see?  Oh, stop doing that winky wink stuff with your eyes!

Anybody know if there is an SOP on how to intimidate diplo-bloggers into going back into writing in their diaries and hiding those under their pillows until the year 2065? Dammit! No SOP needed?

So, no witnesses, no paper trail and  no bruises, just nasty impressive stuff done under the table.  Baby, we need a hero —

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