NASA Would Never Do Anything Like This … Right?
Chairman Hall Criticizes NOAA Spending on Magicians
“First reported in Government Executive, the contract opening was posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website earlier this week. The opening sought to hire performers to deliver presentations that include “experiential exercises, physical energizers, magic tricks, puzzles, brain teasers, word games, humor and team-building exercises, designed to demonstrate how to stimulate creativity, encourage active participation, and practice needed skills and competencies.”
I really like Ralph Hall, he usually has good and patriotic intentions, but in this case I think Ralph’s criticism is in error. The NOAA solicitation was most likely put out in desperation (and I think the rules in DC are, if you’re desperate then you’re exempt from all laws ).Â
Lubchenko has probably tried every trick in the book to increase NOAA budget and grow the organization in these austere times, so who else would she turn to? David Copperfield, of course. Even smarter was the inclusion of mind-readers. What better way to predict U.S. government budget out-years?  Brilliant.   They missed inclusion of astrologers though. If they’d done that they would have had more of a defense given that Nancy Reagan set a precedent with astrological forecasting use. Besides, NOAA is a forecasting entity. And as for comedians, hell they are everywhere in DC. Look at Obama’s hour of jokes at the White House Correspondent’s dinner; maybe he could respond to the NOAA solicitation as a stand-in comedian.
So sorry Ralph, you’re wrong. NOAA needs magicians and mind readers to survive. If Lubchenko had had a half-way decent mind reader in place, she’d have been able to see this coming.
Well when you put it like that, given the NASA leadership’s lack of vision, maybe NASA should procure some of the same kind of help.
Maybe the magician could make those JWST cost overruns go away …
npng’s astute comments notwithstanding, I offer this: as a design professional for three decades I can tell you that encouraging and exercising creativity can be, well, ‘taxing’…
More seriously: finding ways to get my young designers to think about something in a different way occupies much of my time as a design leader. The brain is a funny thing. It is also very, very lazy.
We don’t need to hire anyone, the government is full of clowns!
Frosty,
True enough. But their rates are too high.
Steve
Send them in!
It’s too late; they’re here.
Damn, today’s comments are hilarious!