Daily Archives: January 22, 2016

OPM Announces Operating Status Ahead of Snowmageddon, Look Who Got Upset at No Snow Day!

January 22, 2016 By in Federal Agencies, Funnies, Social Media, Video of the Week Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 2:55 am EDT
Updated: 1/27/16 at 4:53 pm, swapped tweet with YouTube link due to missing plugin.
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Via OPM:

January 22, 2016 Operating Status

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC area are OPEN and employees have the OPTION for UNSCHEDULED LEAVE OR UNSCHEDULED TELEWORK. Employees, who report to their worksite, should depart 4 hours earlier than their normal departure time, but NO LATER THAN 12:00 PM, at which time FEDERAL OFFICES in the Washington, DC area are CLOSED.

The video below by Gumburcules uploaded on January 21, is based on the movie Downfall.  So the Capital Weather Gang apparently lied again!! 43,365 hits and counting and this will now join the ranks of Hitler Rant Parodies on YouTube (yes, it’s a thing). The Washington City paper says that the video was created on a lunch break by thirty-year-old federal worker and D.C. native Andrew Huber.

 

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US Embassy Beirut: A Form Letter Response, Please, That’s Cold

January 22, 2016 By in Americans Abroad, Consular Work, Foreign Service, Huh? News, Media, Public Service, Realities of the FS, Technology and Work, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted: 2:50 am EDT
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The US Embassy in Damascus, Syria suspended its operations on February 6, 2012, and is not open for normal consular services.  The Travel Warning for Syria was last updated on August 27, 2015. Yes, these folks should have left Syria when it was still a possibility, but they probably knew that already, and blaming them now is not going to help. For folks interested in learning what the U.S. Government can and cannot do in a crisis overseas, please click here.

Look, we understand that there is not much that the USG can do in terms of consular services in an active war zone.  But. While it may not be much, forwarding the inquiry in this case to the U.S. Interests Section of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Damascus might have, at a minimum, alerted the Section of this family’s existence.  Two, when one is in a life and death situation, receiving a form letter from the U.S. government is probably one of the coldest manifestation of the bureaucracy.

The Government of the Czech Republic serves as the protecting power for U.S. interests in Syria. U.S. citizens in Syria who seek consular services should contact the U.S. Interests Section of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Damascus at USIS_damascus@embassy.mzv.cz. U.S. citizens in Syria who are in need of emergency assistance in Syria and are unable to reach the U.S. Interests Section of the Embassy of the Czech Republic or must make contact outside business hours, should contact the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan: AmmanACS@state.gov; +(962) (6) 590-6500.

 

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