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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 54 responses total. |
twenex
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response 6 of 54:
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Jan 19 20:53 UTC 2006 |
Wow. Maybe you're catching on.
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happyboy
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response 7 of 54:
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Jan 19 23:10 UTC 2006 |
*hi 5!*
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rcurl
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response 8 of 54:
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Jan 20 00:31 UTC 2006 |
Re #4: but that doesn't explain why you even *care about* his age so much
to make a joke about it.
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tod
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response 9 of 54:
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Jan 20 00:35 UTC 2006 |
re #5
Honestly, most first time communications from constituents are just a request
for self affirmation. Unless you're a powerplayer from some organization,
a politician isn't going to be the one responding but rather they're going
to have one of many staff replying to you with their template response.
What is telling in this case though is that such a template exists for an
inquiry to impeachment of GW or Cheney. 8D *CHUCKLE*
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nharmon
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response 10 of 54:
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Jan 20 00:51 UTC 2006 |
Come on Rane, even you can laugh once in a while.
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rcurl
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response 11 of 54:
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Jan 20 05:21 UTC 2006 |
I do laugh at things that are humerous.
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bhoward
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response 12 of 54:
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Jan 20 09:11 UTC 2006 |
Re#9 I interned for one of the senators from my home state at the
time (Dodd, CT) for a semester. My primary responsibility was to
reply to constituent letters.
Most letters were from people trying to get into the military, out
of the military or asking about an INS related issue. After that,
were those expressing an opinion on a particular issue. Given the
volume of mail we handled, there was a well structured process for
sorting and counting (opinion letters were considered very valuable
polling data) so that we could pass on an accurate read of constituent
views to the Senators senior staff.
Computers weren't nearly as common at the time...we banged out each
response (everyone got a response) by hand on an IBM Selectrex, and
I'm certain the process is far more automated, but each letter was
considered very important. It was assumed that anyone bothering
to write/type and mail something to their representative could be
assumed to speak for some number of others who did not bother or
have the wherewithall to do so themselves.
The responses to views pro/con/alternative on key or common issues
did have prewritten material which would be included in whatever
else was sent in the reply to the constituent but they did change.
I saw the "boiler plate" updated on several issues in the 6months
I worked there as the Senator evolved or outright changed his views.
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klg
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response 13 of 54:
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Jan 20 11:56 UTC 2006 |
(Is curl saying he finds upper arms funny? Do cold weather shirts make
him depressed?))
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nharmon
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response 14 of 54:
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Jan 20 13:10 UTC 2006 |
Re 12: Bruce, how sucessfull are people who write to senators trying to
get into the military?
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jep
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response 15 of 54:
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Jan 20 13:55 UTC 2006 |
I found resp:12 to be very interesting. Thanks for posting it.
I wonder how e-mails are valued versus written letters? Also, how were
phone calls on issues viewed? Were points of some kind assigned to
different type of communications?
I expect you must have received letters from chronic complainers, and
some people who sent the same letter every day. If letters are blindly
fed into a system, and anyone becomes savvy to that situation, some
people would send 100 letters per day to warp the statistics. How does
a senator or congressman's staff deal with that sort of thing?
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bhoward
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response 16 of 54:
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Jan 20 15:52 UTC 2006 |
Re#14 Nathan, most people writing to a Senator to get into the
military are looking for sponsorship into West Point, Annapolis or
the Air Force Academy. Most are not successful -- not necessarily
because they are not qualified, the positions available are few and
the competition is intense and not surprisingly, the selection
process can become political.
Keep in mind that my position as an intern never brought me anywhere
vaguely close to this process other than possibly forwarding such
letters. What I do know mainly comes from other sources including
my father who went to West Point (Go Army! Beat Navy!)
Re#15 John, email was not a factor at the time. Our only computers
were terminals on Lexis/Nexis which we used to reference passed and
proposed legislation. (may be blanking from the trauma -- it was
horribly primitive compared to what I was used to even from just
my first year at UM :-)
Telegrams and faxes might or might not have been considered important
depending on the source, volume and context in which they were
received -- they were certainly were not a significant factor while
I was there. That said, I was there as an intern and for a short
time.
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jadecat
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response 17 of 54:
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Jan 20 16:38 UTC 2006 |
These days I've been told that unless you include title (Mr, Mrs, Dr,
etc) your letters and e-mails aren't even going to be read.
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klg
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response 18 of 54:
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Jan 20 17:11 UTC 2006 |
Main Entry: 3in tern
Variant(s): also in terne /'in-"t&rn/
Function: noun
Etymology: French interne, from interne, adjective
: an advanced student or graduate usually in a professional field (as
medicine or teaching) gaining supervised practical experience (as in a
hospital or classroom)
What was your advanced supervised practical experience?
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tod
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response 19 of 54:
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Jan 20 17:35 UTC 2006 |
re #14
There are also subcommittee chairs one can communicate with to address
military concerns. While I was in, Sam Nunn's office was very responsive to
my collegues concerns.
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nharmon
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response 20 of 54:
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Jan 20 17:42 UTC 2006 |
When I was getting out of high school and looking for a job with the
military (I was denied for because of a previous knee injury) someone
suggested that I write to my congressman. At the time, I thought doing
so would be futile.
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tod
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response 21 of 54:
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Jan 20 17:44 UTC 2006 |
You could always apply to an agency to be a case officer...i mean..a
contractor, yea, a contractor
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nharmon
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response 22 of 54:
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Jan 20 18:15 UTC 2006 |
I did look into jobs with the NSA for when I graduate from college.
However, that would require living around the Washington DC area. I
don't think that is really for me.
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tod
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response 23 of 54:
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Jan 20 18:36 UTC 2006 |
The military wouldn't be any better.
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happyboy
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response 24 of 54:
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Jan 20 19:14 UTC 2006 |
re20: i thought you were denied because of vision problems.
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nharmon
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response 25 of 54:
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Jan 20 19:38 UTC 2006 |
No, you can still join the military being color-blind. But there are a
lot of jobs you can not perform. I was disqualified because I underwent
ACL reconstructive surgery during my junior year of high school. The
recruiters told me this could be waived, and the USMC recruiter seemed
to be the only one interested in pushing the paperwork to find out. In
the end I did not get a waiver. The Navy recuiter told me that if I
didn't tell anyone, there was no reason for anyone to know.
Re #23: Its a lot easier to pick up and move when you're single and
living with your parents. But in four years when I complete college I
will have a house I am paying for, a wife, and maybe a kid.
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nharmon
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response 26 of 54:
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Jan 20 19:39 UTC 2006 |
Oh yeah, does anyone know what the worse that would have happened if I
had lied about my injury to the Navy and they found out later?
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mcnally
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response 27 of 54:
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Jan 20 19:42 UTC 2006 |
re #25: I wonder if, under the current recruiting shortages, your
application would be handled differently today.
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nharmon
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response 28 of 54:
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Jan 20 19:51 UTC 2006 |
I think the current recruiting shortages are only being experienced in
the Army, with the other three branches meeting recruiting quotas with
no problems. Though, that may change.
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mcnally
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response 29 of 54:
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Jan 20 20:38 UTC 2006 |
re #26: the answer to that would have depended a great deal on the
amount of time between your omission and their discovery and the
quality of your service during that time.
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nharmon
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response 30 of 54:
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Jan 20 20:46 UTC 2006 |
This is just a guess, but I imagine the punishment would range from an
other than honorable discharge to jail time.
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