Wednesday evening roundup

Really? The Lavish pay of the federal workforce? As Jon Stewart would say, meet me at camera 3.

Sigh. I don't want to get into personal financial details, and I won't--you saw (read) me react in horror when my mother wouldn't stop alluding to my salary at dinner over the holidays (when a friend of the friends with whom we were having dinner said that federal workers make high six figures). You can probably deduce that I am not exactly rolling in it, since I put up with an overgrown baby for a roommate for much too long, but that--i.e., my salary--is not the point. Just like my weight is not the point. Yes, the fact that I'm not actually overweight makes my mom's commentary on the matter even funnier (if I were, her commentary would be merely tragic rather than a healthier tragicomic). But as close followers of this blog will know, mom has recently developed a new superpower: she can assess my weight without actually seeing me. Which is to say, roundaboutly, that my weight--which is healthy--is not the issue. Likewise, my salary, which is appropriate--neither paltry nor lavish--to my level of skill, education and experience, and to the cost of living in this area, is not the point. Making it the point is like assessing charities purely on their administrative expenses, without taking into account what they actually do and how they do it (and yet, so many people only figure in administrative expenses when choosing charities to support). The point is, it's not like a monkey could do my job (and I am not even talking about the examples of highly specialized professions in the response letter--doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc.). Maybe it's appropriate that skilled people earn a living wage, commensurate with the competence they bring to the job. I work directly and indirectly with highly competent, hard-working, dedicated people across the federal government. Could we maybe show them a little respect?

***
Speaking of charities, here's why I told you not to give to the Red Cross.

And here's the debate about how best to rebuild Haiti.