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Post by foghorn on Jul 11, 2018 12:39:07 GMT -5
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Post by greendog on Jul 11, 2018 12:39:52 GMT -5
Pixie, Can we now reveal all the testing, interview, and question secrets since it is all gone away now? Or is that still taboo? I don't care one way or the other, but it may help others to hear what it was like and some of the questions asked. No preparation helped me, and I even took gift baskets and baby animals. Here is what gary said in another thread, and I tend to agree with him. "I think the CAs apply until OPM says they don’t, regardless of whether test secrecy matters anymore." sounds good to me. |
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Post by alohastate on Jul 11, 2018 12:40:35 GMT -5
I propose we start a gofundme page for the applicants to recover the costs incurred in the testing process, as well as the two to three days of lost leave. Keep it simple and say $1000 per applicant who had to travel more than 90 miles to the testing site and can provide either a copy of their NOR or Invite to this last testing session. Who would donate to that? I'm just claiming it as a job expense and an unreimbursed casualty due to theft on my taxes. Are expenses of seeking a new job legitimate unreimbursed (and deductible) expenses? I would be surprised. |
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Post by ssa on Jul 11, 2018 12:58:40 GMT -5
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Post by alohastate on Jul 11, 2018 13:05:04 GMT -5
Thanks, SSA. Who knew your middle name was IRS? |
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Post by JudgeKnot on Jul 11, 2018 13:10:49 GMT -5
Keep in mind that "may be deductible" does not mean "are deductible." As noted at the linked page:
If you are looking for a new job that is in the same line of work, you may be able to deduct some of your job hunting expenses on your federal income tax return.
Here are seven things the IRS wants you to know about deducting costs related to your job search (I'm only including the first):
To qualify for a deduction, your expenses must be spent on a job search in your current occupation. You may not deduct expenses you incur while looking for a job in a new occupation.
If you aren't a judge/hearing officer/alj or something similar, who knows if your expenses will be deductible? Are "lawyer" and "ALJ" the same occupation?
I'm guessing it won't be an issue for most of you. The current standard deduction for a single is $12K, and for married filing jointly is $24K. Last year, they were $6,350 and $12,700 respectively.
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Post by lurkerbelow on Jul 11, 2018 14:51:13 GMT -5
I don't think this board needs to go anywhere. As shown by the past 24 hours, interest in this area is intense and sometimes explosive. Having access to unbiased information in a semi-anonymous setting is essential to help perspective judges make rational decisions concerning employment. I have a few suggestions.
There are a multitude of people, both inside and outside of the government that are on this forum. I've been generally quite impressed with the level of civility and willingness to share information to help each other. That's something that should be treasured. I cannot find other forums like this any more. Anywhere. For anything, really. It's...kind of depressing. So my interest is in keeping a forum of people with a common interest (becoming ALJs) while maintaining the civility of the forum.
However, obviously things are moving at a clip and in a divisive manner. Also, it's pretty obvious that people inside of the federal government will have different priorities then those outside, and that some information cannot be shared. Many of us are subject to Hatch Act requirements, and I'm willing to bet we have some SES and ALJs lying around somewhere.
I'm not going to talk about politics because I don't think they should matter here except when it directly impacts the process, as it is right now. We are all attorneys, and we have all had to sit through (and respect) opinions that we do not agree with. We should continue to do so on this forum. In short, I think that politics are a big 'no no' and should remain that way. Civility goes a long way there.
After that, the focus of the board is on becoming an ALJ. Obviously, this board is still one of the best places around to find information on this.
That's my vision of this board, at least. That and Pixie placing forum members into threads due to past 'misbehaviors' and the grammar debates (you guys crack me up. I love reading that stuff! I still don't know why bayou has his own thread and I'm not going to ask. I enjoy the mystery.)
So, I guess basically my summary of what the board going forward should be os:
1. Do continue to talk about becoming an ALJ. Do talk about funny stuff. Do talk about stuff to help each other during troubled times (such as the beautiful Airdrop thread.)
2. Do not talk about politics except as necessary for point 1, and even then, 'apply' strict scrutiny (narrowly tailored, compelling interest). I'd roughly guesstimate that about a third of us are subject to speech restrictions that would make this a serious issue if identities were uncovered and expose said people to what I will call political crosswinds. That leads me to my next point.
3. Do not be impolitic or uncivil. We all know what this means, and if you don't, I'm sure Pixie or another individual will (re)educate you. We all have jobs and do not have time for that nonsense.
4. Do not ask for sources. This should be obvious from #3. Nobody cares and I trust we all have sufficient detectors to determine whether we are dealing with chicken little or Ragnarok (speaking of, love the new one-eyed Thor look in the movies.)
I've watched some weird stuff happen on the internet as the government interacts with it. I've seen an Article 3 senior judge maintain a blog and successfully interact with the public for years. He eventually stopped because his employees asked him to (they were not so comfortable). But I have also seen failures where sites become 'refuges' from the pressures of the political, where people gather to gripe about their boss's behavior and formulate responses. This is not a wise forum direction, as it exposes the members to becoming targets for said political crosswinds and can result in investigations and legal problems. That's not something anyone wants.
Anyways, these are just my opinions. Take them for what they're worth.
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Post by Pixie on Jul 11, 2018 16:11:57 GMT -5
lurkerbelow: I don't think it is Greendog who has his own thread, although he started the jokes thread. The one you are thinking about is probably bayou. He has his own thread because he is special. At least he used to be before he went bad. I am trying to rehab him. Pixie
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Post by lurkerbelow on Jul 11, 2018 16:19:02 GMT -5
Ah, yes, edited. Thanks, and apologies to Greendog.
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Post by statman on Jul 11, 2018 16:30:07 GMT -5
2020 elections are sooner than you think what one president takes away another may return.
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Post by Pixie on Jul 13, 2018 7:02:47 GMT -5
Good, FH. I had forgotten that bit about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor. What a talent he was. He had a party at his house many years ago. It was an outside party. James Taylor and Carly Simon came walking into the backyard. Belushi saw them and went running up to them doing his best impression of himself. He picked Carly up and threw her over his shoulder. She was wearing a relatively long dress, but that didn't protect her modesty in Belushi's grip. She was squealing, "Put me down, put me down!" Her dress was over her head and her nether regions were exposed to all the party goers. Guess what she wasn't wearing? True story. Pixie. , here is the post about the party. Those of you who know Belushi's style can easily envision this. Pixie |
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Post by judgymcjudgypants on Jul 13, 2018 9:18:55 GMT -5
Where is Bayou, anyway? Has he checked in this week?
Pixie, you may have done too good a job keeping him sequestered in his own thread.
J
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Post by Pixie on Jul 13, 2018 10:21:49 GMT -5
Where is Bayou, anyway? Has he checked in this week? Pixie, you may have done too good a job keeping him sequestered in his own thread. J He has logged in, but not posted. I sent him a PM a few days ago, but he hasn't responded. He is still alive; that's about all I know. Pixie |
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Post by counsel on Jul 13, 2018 12:13:01 GMT -5
As a board member for over a decade, I hope the board continues. Those of us in the first summer of post-freeze hiring are celebrating our ten year anniversary of becoming ALJs. I'm very grateful for the last decade and wondering what the next decade will hold. Hope you will all be there with me to find out.
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Post by bayou on Jul 13, 2018 12:34:42 GMT -5
Where is Bayou, anyway? Has he checked in this week? Pixie, you may have done too good a job keeping him sequestered in his own thread. J He has logged in, but not posted. I sent him a PM a few days ago, but he hasn't responded. He is still alive; that's about all I know. Pixie I'm here. Trying to digest and avoid the hot takes and squabbles that erupted. Pixie, I didn't get your PM. |
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Post by Pixie on Jul 13, 2018 12:58:03 GMT -5
He has logged in, but not posted. I sent him a PM a few days ago, but he hasn't responded. He is still alive; that's about all I know. Pixie I'm here. Trying to digest and avoid the hot takes and squabbles that erupted. Pixie, I didn't get your PM. I'll see if I can find it and resend. I thought it was unlike you to not respond to something I wrote you, especially when it was actually nice. Pixie |
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Post by judgymcjudgypants on Jul 13, 2018 13:24:17 GMT -5
K. Try not to be too blue, Bayou.
J
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Post by 2rvrrun on Jul 13, 2018 13:40:13 GMT -5
What are y'all thinking discussing discontinuing this board? If Pixie is willing to continue we should just be thankful and go forward. There will be lots of questions about future hiring procedures of ALJs and federal employment is fraught with mystery.
Think of all the knowledge we have gained. Constitutional law education, who makes the best bourbon, what happens when you fail to maintain your bourbon barn, the most desirable cities in the country, where in the world is Eric Conn, vast music education with first person reporting, knowledge of military practices, jokes, videos, and job openings.
That is not to mention the sublime humor displayed by Funcky, tigerlaw, papajudge, gary, greendog, and others.
And the friendship and support for board members during difficult times.
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Post by privateatty on Jul 13, 2018 13:41:46 GMT -5
I can think of an excellent way to keep this board alive. There will still be federal ALJs, and after the dust settles agencies will still need to hire new people to fill those positions. From what I understand, those positions may or may not get listed on USAJobs.gov, and they are more likely to be listed on the individual agency websites. Some of those listings may be hard to find, either on purpose ("We want to hire Mary, so let's make the posting as obscure as we can") or because of incompetence ("doesn't anyone at this agency know HTML?"). I'm not sure I'm neurotic enough to check every nook and cranny of every agency website for listings, but among this group we have enough people with enough skills, inside knowledge and free time to find every federal ALJ listing that gets posted. We have had the "Plan B" thread going for a long time, and it has alerted me to many positions I didn't find on my own. Could we use this board to keep that good work going? Anyone want to suggest the best way to bring attention to the new listings as they happen? A new thread for each one? Another long thread like the "Plan B" thread? And thanks in advance to anyone who does the sleuthing and posts for us all to see. This is all very sobering. So many years watching and posting on this Board. This highs, the lows; it has often been a chronicle of the Operatic. And I'm not as angry as I was the last couple of nights, as Its all very, very sad. My condolences to those whom are left dangling on the Register like ripe fruit n'er picked. We all had issues of one form of another with OPM, but I can't believe any lawyer who has litigated before an ALJ would want to have to wonder if the Judge they are in front of has to think of his/her job and the agency before they make their decision. Not to mention that the Agency will be able to (and may well be required to by those on high) demand conformance to policy in heretofore unheard of ways. That, after all, is the intent of all of this. This Board has always been about becoming a federal ALJ. Those of us who. have been lucky enough to get the job are, IMHO, obligated to strive to stave off cronyism and incompetence. While it has been noted that we "are not in the same ballpark" as Art. III judges, I think having the power that a SSA Judge has in terms of being the instrument in determining lifetime disability payments for the hopeless and downtrodden is weighty enough. Most ALJs throughout the many agencies decide civil cases that can bankrupt, save companies and change lives immeasurably. At any rate, I know that there will always be a need for this Board. Thanks to Pixie and ALJD for their service. It has been considerable.  |
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Post by bayou on Jul 13, 2018 14:38:37 GMT -5
K. Try not to be too blue, Bayou. J There is a water park in Baton Rouge called Blue Bayou. |
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