quote Originally posted by randye:Oddly enough, it was a mailer like that that prompted me to enroll in the MIT Sloan MBA program many years ago. At the time I thought it would be one of the most "prestigious" accomplishments I would ever do. It has turned out to be a marvelous wall decoration. Compared to my engineering academic work, that MBA was relatively easy and actually fun. Without a doubt, THE hardest academic work I ever accomplished was my language training at the DLI at Monterey, CA https://www.dliflc.edu/ 52 weeks of almost 24/7 classes and study just to get an AA in foreign language, (I was able to later convert it to a BA in Farsi and to also get another BA in Urdu), I was already fluent in German, Norwegian and Swedish along with a smattering of Russian but that 52 weeks at DLI almost kicked my butt.

Haha, damn, that's awesome. As soon as you mentioned it, coming from where I worked, I'd immediately heard of it... but I never took any language courses for work. I had thought about going to NIU, which of course you know what that is... (it may have had a different name when you worked for the Government), but I never could get the schedule to align with my work. Half the classes were classified coursework, which meant that I had to take them during work hours, and I was on the Blue Team at the time, which meant I was traveling 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off every month... just never worked out. When I PCSed, they only offered a couple of the classes... so it was never meant to be.

I thought it would have been cool to have a classified degree, haha...

quote Originally posted by NewDustin: You are missing my point. Compare them to the other folks that have filled that role; they are as qualified as anyone who has filled it. They are a very well qualified candidate. Name something you are unhappy with about how they performed in that role please.

I know nothing about how he performed that role. I do know that he is a science denier. I also have no hope for the objective of the role. How long have we been creating nuclear waste ? How much have we successfully disposed of ? He / she / they / it, being as qualified as anyone else ? What gave him the nod ?

quote Originally posted by NewDustin: I'd say they were picked because they were well qualified and performed well in the role. Given that no one here seems to be able to come up with any issues with how kind of they performed in that job, I'd say that's pretty well accepted.

I call bullzhit. Pot Hole Pete Buttigieg who as Mayor of South Bend Indiana, became the the Secretary of Transportation despite not being able to manage transportation issues in South Bend. Why was he picked ? Because he has a husband ?

quote Originally posted by NewDustin: I knew nothing about this person until members of this forum posted pictures of them over and over, and you all's interest in this person seems to be entirely focused on how they look when all dolled up (otherwise the inability of anyone to even comment on their policy is odd). If it isn't a weird sexual thing...what's the fascination? Why do a bunch of post-middle-aged men have so many pictures of this gender fluid person?

Are you also a science denier also ? Gender fluid ? Weird sexual thing ? Heh, gender fluid is a weird sexual thing. Dolled up ? Clown suit.

quote Originally posted by cliffw: I had originally come here to speak of Trump's Cabinet picks. It seems as he has filled all positions. 41 positions .

Agreed, some interesting choices. What I think of those choices will play no role in who the Senate confirms, I do believe that anyone who either strongly favors or fears a nominee should let their Senator know how they feel about it. I like the vast majority of President Elect Trumps choices but there are a few I question why they were chosen. No one bats a 100%, don't care who you are.

Rams

quote Originally posted by NewDustin:No. I knew nothing about this person until members of this forum posted pictures of them over and over, and you all's interest in this person seems to be entirely focused on how they look when all dolled up (otherwise the inability of anyone to even comment on their policy is odd). If it isn't a weird sexual thing...what's the fascination? Why do a bunch of post-middle-aged men have so many pictures of this gender fluid person?

and...

quote Originally posted by NewDustin: Edit: did some digging; they also apparently like to steal ladies luggage. While that's hilarious, I'm still not sure it impacts how one would perform as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition. That seems a pretty obscure role to be obsessing about 2 years after the person left office, but I'm not here to kink shame.

I missed these. There's normal, and then there's insane. The way that individual dressed while at work, was completely abnormal. I'd like to correct a point that people keep making, this person wasn't a cabinet position. He was merely a political appointment, which means he was a Senior that was put in place by the Biden administration in a lower-level senior management role that didn't require confirmation of the Senate because the director (DOE) had already been chosen.

Either way, when you enter into positions like this... it's not about you... it's about the job, and the commitment you make to the taxpayer and the public at large. It's not an opportunity for you to show off your weirdness and deviancy. If Sam did his best to dress like a woman (or a man) and did so in the most un-attention grabbing way possible, no one would make a huge deal about it. But this person was seeking attention... which is not really what you're looking for in a policy pick.

Some might say, this is also why Gaetz wouldn't have been a good pick for DOE.

Sam's early work was important in bringing attention to utilizing nuclear waste from Gen1/2 plants as fuel for Gen 3 and 4 plants, but this isn't anything he created... still, he advocated for it and wrote a few journal papers... which was important. While he was in the DOE however, he did almost nothing... the administration was vehemently against nuclear power anyway (at the time), and Sam didn't further anything to that point... in that position, he likely wouldn't have done anything except sign off on things, and it seems he used it as more of a vanity position anyway.

There are no press releases from the DOE from Sam, except his confirmation, and then news reports about his multiple arrests from stealing luggage...