Nearly a third of recent veterans have federal jobs, many more than would have them in the absence of preferential hiring. This makes it an effective policy to express the nation’s thanks for veterans’ sacrifices. Yet all policies come with costs. Applicants without military service pay some of them by having a lower chance to get these jobs, and non-vets are concentrated among women and, to a lesser extent, Hispanic, Asian and gay men. The nation loses from a less diverse federal service.   read more

As prime minister, Veiga in 1992 oversaw the creation of a new constitution and flag for the country. He also began to bring in private investment to the nation that is heavily dependent on foreign aid and remittances to keep its economy going. Veiga was known for moving his cabinet ministers around and sometimes firing them to keep from developing a power base from which they could challenge him. In 1998, Veiga was injured in a plane crash that killed one of his bodyguards.   read more

As director of the City of Houston Department of Housing and Community Development (HCDD), Rackleff was responsible for community development projects, affordable housing, and neighborhood revitalization. During his term as director, HCDD produced 7,800 multifamily housing units and helped 1,700 single-family homeowners with rebuilding hurricane-damaged homes. He also worked on the redevelopment of the historic downtown building now housing the J.W. Marriott Hotel.   read more

Long joined the George W. Bush administration in 2001 as a hurricane program manager in FEMA for six states—but, significantly, not Louisiana, which bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina. One of his achievements was the distribution of an educational hurricane computer game for grade-schools. In 2008, Long became director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, where he directed the state’s response to incidents as different as the H1N1 flu virus and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.   read more

“I am not going to shoot you, brother.” In what world do those words being said by a police officer result in that officer being fired? You don’t have to go down the rabbit hole in search of a place where up is down, left is right, and war is peace. All you need do is go to Weirton, West Virginia. Police Officer Stephen Mader was fired from his job for not killing a Black man when he could have. He’s now in a battle that seems both absurd and highlights the absurdity of our times.   read more