GovernmentExecutive.com

Courtesy of the Census Bureau: "By this time tomorrow, there will be some 7,800 new babies on hand to welcome the new year."

Have you resolved to drop a few pounds in the new year? If so, you're certainly not alone. But if you're having trouble controlling the amount you eat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some new research that might be at least a little bit comforting.

In a study entitled "Eating as an Automatic Behavior," Dr. Deborah Cohen of the RAND Corp. and Dr. Thomas A. Farley of Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine explore the question of why America's obesity epidemic is growing at the same time that being overweight is more and more socially taboo. Here's the gist of their explanation:

National efforts to treat and prevent obesity depend to a large degree on educating people to regulate their food intake through such means as publicizing general guidelines on nutrition, promoting tailored diets, and labeling foods with nutrition information. The continued growth of the epidemic despite the employment of these techniques should make people question the assumptions underlying them. The fundamental assumption is that, given the right information and motivation, people can successfully reduce their food intake to match their caloric expenditure over the long term. This assumption in turn implies that eating is a conscious act. An alternative assumption is that eating is a behavior controlled by the environment rather than by the individual.

Courtesy of my colleague Matthew Yglesias at The Atlantic, here's a link to an incredibly exhaustive list, modestly entitled "Some Road Songs," compiled by Richard F. Weingroff of the Federal Highway Administration. I was prepared to nitpick, but this thing is pretty comprehensive, covering everything from AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" to (of course) Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," "Thunder Road," and "Racing in the Street."

Editors and reporters at Stars and Stripes newspaper are taking on their overseers at the Pentagon, the New York Times reports today. At issue is funding for a publicity program called America Supports You that apparently was funded through the paper.

The paper's two top editors are seeking the release of more details on the contracting arrangement. “This is not how an editorially independent newspaper should conduct itself,” executive editor Robb Grindstaff and managing editor Doug Clawson wrote in a letter to the paper's publisher and the Pentagon official who oversees its operations.

Stars and Stripes occupies an unusual position in that by statute it is deemed to be editorially independent of the Defense Department, but it is owned and partially financed by the Pentagon.

"Food, Fun and the Federal Government"

From a sneak peek at the impending New Year from Colorado's Vail Trail, which somewhat breathlessly promises, "New restaurants, schools and commander-in-chief in store for us in 2008."

The folks over at the editorial page of the Washington Times are disappointed in the recently unveiled Office of Management and Budget Web site containing data on federal contracts, grants and loans, USAspending.gov.

It's not that the data presented on the site isn't useful. USAspending.gov provides "real insight into government's operations," the paper's editorial writers say. They also laud "the ease with which ordinary Internet users can ask questions, begin searches and find information."

So what's the problem? More detailed data would be nice, the paper says. And then comes the real issue: "Nor are $700 hammers and new "Bridges to Nowhere" easily discoverable on this site, we're sorry to report."

At the end of the day, it's all about the horror stories, isn't it?

The National Treasury Employees Union isn't the only labor organization that has been busy signing up Transportation Security Administration employees lately. In the wake of NTEU's announcement that it had chartered a second TSA chapter, at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the American Federation of Government Employees has issued a statement noting that it has recently launched four new TSA locals, in Atlanta, Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico. AFGE, which says it will stand up many more TSA locals in the months ahead, also takes pains to note that it is "the only union to represent and stand behind transportation security officers since the agency’s inception."

Charlie Cameron, 60, is a federal employee who has a nice little side business this time of year. He's a traveling Santa, the Albuquerque Tribune reports. Make an appointment with him, and he'll show up at your holiday gathering and entertain the kids --or the grown-ups -- for $50 an hour. That adds up to about $1,000 per holiday season, which Cameron says is just enough to cover his travel expenses and pay for a nice dinner with his wife -- who plays the part of Mrs. Claus, naturally.

If you bought a toy from an Army and Air Force Exchange Service store for Christmas -- such as a wooden horse or a military vehicle playset -- you might want to take a close look at it. Several toys offered at AAFES stores under the brand name "Soldier Bear" have been recalled because the Consumer Product Safety Commission says the paint used on them contains excessive amounts of lead.

Last week the Office of Management and Budget crowed about meeting a deadline to create a publicly accessible Web site to provide data on federal contracts, grants, and loans. The fine print of that announcement noted that the data would cover about 90 percent of federal spending.

So what's in the other 10 percent? That's what we're starting to learn. Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists reports that several defense intelligence agencies have successfully made the case that they should not have to report even unclassified contracting actions to the database due to "operational security isues."

Defense News, Aftergood notes, uncovered a memo from Shay D. Assad, director of Defense procurement and acquisition policy, granting the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and Counterintelligence Field Activity a waiver from reporting requirements, at least for fiscal 2007 and 2008.

"I appreciate your concerns that reporting these actions to the publicly accessible website could provide unacceptable risk of insight to your individual missions and budgets," Assad wrote.

But as Aftergood notes, contracting data from these agencies for previous years will be available on OMB's USAspending.gov site. It's also been available online via other sources for years. So it's a little odd that this information suddenly represents a security risk.

(Hat tip: Government Inc.)

Congress wants the intelligence community to take a fresh look at its use of contractors. The Washington Post reports that the conference report on the fiscal 2008 intelligence authorization bill orders National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell to prepare a report by the end of March on use of contractors at all 16 intelligence agencies.

On top of that, the legislation gives McConnell the unusual authority to increase personnel levels at those agencies (but by no more than 10 percent) in order to convert contractor jobs into government positions.

The conference report takes note of an estimate that a civilian employee costs the government an average of $126,500 annually in salary and benefits, while the average contract employee costs $250,000.

In her blog on outsourcing in the intelligence community, RJ Hillhouse notes that this is a problem largely of Congress' making:

By limiting the number of positions within the Intelligence Community while adding funds for services, Congress set the stage for the wide scale outsourcing we see today, with some 70% of the de facto workforce of the CIA's National Clandestine Service made up of contractors.

That's a story that could be told at a lot of other federal agencies, too.

It looks like Marta Perez, the top personnel person at the Homeland Security Department, is out, at a time when the department is struggling to integrate its operations, overhaul its proposed personnel reforms and deal with morale problems.

Here's the press release from DHS headquarters:

STATEMENT BY HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY MICHAEL CHERTOFF ON THE RESIGNATION OF THE CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICER

Chief Human Capital Officer Marta Perez has announced her departure from the department effective Jan. 6, 2008. Marta’s knowledge and experience in developing and managing personnel systems has helped to make the department a model in human capital service for the federal government.

Marta set plans in motion that will ensure the department hires and retains a talented and diverse workforce. She led the way to create a department-wide culture of performance, and established high-quality learning and development programs. Under Marta’s direction, we implemented a department-wide integrated leadership system. Although Marta will be leaving soon, she leaves in place a strong transition plan and team that will carry the department through 2009 – and beyond.

I am grateful for Marta’s service and dedication to the federal government, and thank her for her contributions to America’s security. I will miss Marta personally and professionally, and wish her well in her future endeavors.

When Charlie Wilson’s War comes out Friday, federal employees should keep an eye out for one of their own. The movie features Tom Hanks as a hard-living Congressman who helped arm the Taliban to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, Julia Roberts going blonde to play the Texas socialite who introduced him to the cause, and Philip Seymour Hoffman sporting a truly dreadful moustache as a CIA official. But the film also includes the character of Mike Vickers, who helped ship weapons to Afghanistan as a young CIA operative. And he's still working in government as assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, according to the Associated Press, after stints in the private sector and think tank worlds.

Vickers says his wife "told me that if there were any sex scenes in the movie with a character named Mike Vickers, I'd be dead meat." --Alyssa Rosenberg

Hat tip: FedSmith.

Maybe this will help explain why.

I'll try to get back on the ball soon.

You may be aware that while there are strict limits on gifts that federal employees can accept from outside sources, there is a widely used exemption for free admission to "widely attended gatherings." But what exactly is a "widely attended gathering"? The Office of Government Ethics has issued some guidance on that question.

(Hat tip: IEC Journal)

For most federal workers, yesterday was the deadline for picking a health plan for 2008. But Mike Causey reports in his Washington Times column today that Internal Revenue Service employees are going to get a little extra time. It seems that "many IRS workers didn't get health plan information because of late mailings or delivery glitches," so they're getting a two-week extension on making their decisions. Agencies have the leeway to grant extensions in situations like this, the Office of Personnel Management says.

Now that President Bush has made it official that most feds don't have to work on Christmas Eve, OPM has come up with some details on his order.

Those of you who already planned to take annual leave that day should note this proviso: "If an employee has scheduled "use or lose" annual leave for December 24, 2007, and is unable to reschedule that leave for use before the end of the leave year (i.e., January 5, 2008), the leave will be forfeited."

A dentist tried to take the position that only federal employees and residents of U.S. territories should have to pay taxes. A court saw things differently. Then the dentist saw the light, paid her bill, and said she had been coerced by her husband into endorsing crazy anti-tax schemes. She still got 33 months in prison.

(Hat tip: Fedsmith)

White House counsel Fred Fielding has sent a memo to agencies urging them to provide Hatch Act briefings to all of their employees by the end of the year, IEC Journal reports.

"The 2008 election cycle will present many opportunities for federal employees to be involved in the political process," Fielding writes in the memo, "either through their own initiative or through outreach from campaigns." But agencies, he said, need to "ensure that those federal employees who choose to participate in political activity do so in accordance with the high ethical standards the president expects."

Fielding's office will be conducting its own set of Hatch Act briefings for White House staff. Judging from a whole series of events that have unfolded this year, that seems like a prudent idea.

Memo to Deputy EPA Administrator Marcus Peacock: What's your problem with hot dogs? Have you got something against all-American cuisine?

From Sandia National Laboratories: Did Early Southwestern Indians Ferment Corn and Make Beer?

See, it's not all about nuclear weapons research.

Bonus points for the caption on the photo accompanying the release: "Sandia researcher Ted Borek used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to analyze vapors produced by mild heating of pot samples." But he didn't inhale, right?

The National Institutes of Health has begun spending more than $1 million a month in rent on its brand-new $250 million Biomedical Research Center in southeast Baltimore, the Baltimore Sun reports. But some of the scientists who are supposed to be working there haven't moved in yet, because the facility suffers from a vibration problem. The shakiness is well within industry standards, but presents a potential problem for researchers using super-sensitive scientific equipment. NIH has spent a decade planning to build the facility and getting permission for the unusual leasing arrangement.

Remember that U.S. Geological Survey employee who was charged with faking cancer to get leave donations from his fellow employees? Well, he has pleaded guilty, reports All Headline News. The employee, Robert Joseph Thom, faces jail time and already has agreed to repay the cost of the donated leave. Oh, and "he's no longer a federal employee."

Popular culture is full of negative role models for children, but acting Surgeon General Rear Adm. Steven K. Galson has found one in an unusual place: the North Pole. Santa Claus, he says, needs to step away from the sleigh, put down the sweets and get on the treadmill.

“It is really important that the people who kids look up to as role models are in good shape, eating well and getting exercise. It is absolutely critical,” Galson told the Boston Herald last week. NFL players work to promote healthy lifestyles, Galson said, and "Santa is no different.”

(Hat tip: Wonkette)

It's the holiday season, and you know what that means: party invitations from vendors. If you're in need of some ethical guidance on how to handle them, the Defense Department General Counsel's Standards of Conduct Office has issued a helpful list of rules and regulations.

(Hat tip: IEC Journal)

In case you missed it, I wanted to draw your attention to a new feature on GovernmentExecutive.com: The Basics. The idea is to provide a concise explanation of what's important about key issues, along with links to further resources online and a constantly updated list of our news articles related to the subject.

We kicked off with The Basics of the Bush administration's Lines of Business initiative and GSA's Networx contract. But we'll be adding more on both IT and non-IT subjects -- including, in the near future, one that is near and dear to many feds' hearts these days: How to decide when to retire.