The Government Shutdown Countdown Lowdown MEGATHREAD

[alfred russel]

Do you really think Obama has decided which monuments will stay open and which will close?

Of course not.

Then why put this on him?

I admit to not reading most of this thread, so sorry if I'm going over well worn ground.

It seems as though these are decisions that would be made by civil servants, who would probably be conservative in their decisions. There may be some conservatism based on risk aversion. There could also be some spite involved (the public isn't going to pay me for a while, they can do without their monument). There could even be some turf defending (if I am a ranger overseeing a monument, I may see it staying open without me as a threat).

None of those seem political.

Yi didn't.

I should have read more of the thread before posting.

I've heard of Republicans blaming Obama for this stuff, and read into some things Yi was posting so that I thought he was making the same arguments. My bad.

[Syt]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/04/politics/weather-service-cryptic-message/index.html?sr=fb100513weathermessage103a

Hidden in National Weather Service forecast: P-L-E-A-S-E-P-A-Y-U-S

(CNN) -- Sometimes, it pays to read between the lines.

At least that may be the message --and, more accurately, the hope -- of workers at the National Weather Service office in Anchorage, Alaska.

The message can be found in an official forecast put out at 5 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) that seems, at first glance, routine with its discussion of air pressure, wind speeds and weather systems.

But if you line up the first letters of each word from top-to-bottom in the forecast, under the heading "Analysis and Upper levels," there's something else there: P-L-E-A-S-E-P-A-Y-U-S.

That breaks down into three simple words: Please pay us.

Meteorologists at the service's Anchorage office declined Friday afternoon to comment on the possibly cryptic wording, saying they can only speak about weather-related matters. It was not immediately clear who exactly put out the forecast or whether a message was intentionally tucked into it.

Still, it's no secret that National Weather Service employees -- like other federal government employees -- aren't getting paid as long as the government is shut down. That began Tuesday and there has been no indication that it will end anytime soon, with Democrats and Republicans holding firm on their positions that the other is to blame and that they won't budge.

Up to 800,000 federal workers are at risk of furlough, meaning they won't report to work until the sides agree on a spending plan that President Barack Obama signs into law.

Other federal employees are still working, because what they do is considered essential by the government. That includes many at the National Weather Service.

Whenever the shutdown ends, these government workers should get back-pay. But there's no telling when that will happen, meaning they could work for days, weeks or months before they take home a paycheck.

[DGuller]

But if you line up the first letters of each word from top-to-bottom in the forecast, under the heading "Analysis and Upper levels," there's something else there: P-L-E-A-S-E-P-A-Y-U-S.

That breaks down into three simple words: Please pay us.

[Syt]

The combined monthly pay of all National Weather Service employees in Alaska is enough to feed katmai for a week.

[garbon]

Just a week?

[Ideologue]

But if you line up the first letters of each word from top-to-bottom in the forecast, under the heading "Analysis and Upper levels," there's something else there: P-L-E-A-S-E-P-A-Y-U-S.

That breaks down into three simple words: Please pay us.

[katmai]

The combined monthly pay of all National Weather Service employees in Alaska is enough to feed katmai for a week.

[The Brain]

P-L-E-A-S-E-P-L-A-T-Y-P-U-S

[lustindarkness]

House votes to approve back pay for furloughed workers

[11B4V]

House votes to approve back pay for furloughed workers

(Newser) – For furloughed federal employees, annoyance has just turned into a paid vacation. The House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill to make sure that everyone told to stay home during the government shutdown will get back pay, reports the Hill. The measure is expected to zip through the Senate and then get a quick signature from the president. "Today, 17 years ago, federal workers were given back pay after Newt Gingrich's record 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. "It was a fair thing to do then, and it is a fair thing to do now." (It's good news for those clever federal weather forecasters who made their plea in a hidden message.)

I want to be non-essential and get a paid vacation. The cops always get screwed.

[lustindarkness]

House votes to approve back pay for furloughed workers

(Newser) – For furloughed federal employees, annoyance has just turned into a paid vacation. The House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill to make sure that everyone told to stay home during the government shutdown will get back pay, reports the Hill. The measure is expected to zip through the Senate and then get a quick signature from the president. "Today, 17 years ago, federal workers were given back pay after Newt Gingrich's record 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. "It was a fair thing to do then, and it is a fair thing to do now." (It's good news for those clever federal weather forecasters who made their plea in a hidden message.)

I want to be non-essential and get a paid vacation. The cops always get screwed.

Me too. I would spend the time on the trails, playing video games and catching up on movies.

[Razgovory]

House votes to approve back pay for furloughed workers

(Newser) – For furloughed federal employees, annoyance has just turned into a paid vacation. The House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill to make sure that everyone told to stay home during the government shutdown will get back pay, reports the Hill. The measure is expected to zip through the Senate and then get a quick signature from the president. "Today, 17 years ago, federal workers were given back pay after Newt Gingrich's record 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. "It was a fair thing to do then, and it is a fair thing to do now." (It's good news for those clever federal weather forecasters who made their plea in a hidden message.)

I want to be non-essential and get a paid vacation. The cops always get screwed.

Good deal if you don't care when you get paid.

[Syt]

The combined monthly pay of all National Weather Service employees in Alaska is enough to feed katmai for a week.

You didn't think I'd let your comment in the baseball thread go unanswered?

[Phillip V]

[Admiral Yi]

Right. Leaving the site open but unguarded is the right thing to do!

Open and unguarded is the natural condition of monuments on the mall.