The security jobs are within the state’s Department of Military Affairs. An Illinois National Guard spokeswoman, Army Lt. Col. Alicia Tate-Nadeau, said 70 Securitas guards were hired in June. The 20 state employees were fired last month because of a $1.1 million cut in federal funding, she said.

Shouldn’t someone be asking how it is that they can hire Securitas in June and fire the vets in November? What funds are they paying Securitas with?

She also said the 20 former state security guards did not meet federal requirements such as being certified to carry firearms.

Show me a veteran who wasn’t trained to carry a firearm. What would the state have to pay the fired guards to carry weapons over and above their normal pay? If this was an issue why wasn’t it previously brought to the fired guards attention?

Tate-Nadeau said three of the displaced employees have retired, two are on non-work related disability and two are in arbitration over their firing. She could not account for the 20th employee.

How come she can’t account for the 20th? I suspect we are getting a glimpse into priorities here.

She disputed Clingen’s contention that vets are more suited to working at the National Guard armories, calling the Securitas guards professional and well-trained. “Just because they were veterans did not mean they had a more acute awareness of what the requirements are,” she said.

A number of these vets worked at their respective facilities for a long time and know those facilities like the back of their hands. Also veterans do have a special insight into the minds of the military personnel that call these facilities their workplace. They have an understanding of how the military operates and how things need to be done. For the Lt. Colonel to dismiss that out of hand is beyond words.

The tone of the Lt. Colonel and her quotes show an utter lack of empathy for these vets. It is my sincere hope that the Lt. Colonel never encounter someone like herself when she moves to the ranks of veteran. Veterans deserve better than the treatment they are receiving in this situation.

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www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fire_a_vetnov12,0,4909584.story

chicagotribune.com

Quinn asks governor to probe firing of 17 vets

Blagojevich is asked to save 17 vets’ jobs

By Jeff Long, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter E.A. Torriero contributed to this report

November 12, 2007

A war of words and finger-pointing broke out Veterans Day, as Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn asked Gov. Rod Blagojevich to investigate the firing of 17 veterans and three others from security jobs at National Guard armories across the state. The governor blamed federal cuts and asked Washington to change its policies.

“The governor proclaimed this ‘Hire a Veteran Month,’” Quinn said at a Sunday morning news conference. “He didn’t say ‘Fire a Veteran.’”

Later, Blagojevich offered criticism of his own.

“It’s an outrage that at a time when we are working to support our veterans and make their lives better, the federal government would change the rules and cut funding to make it harder for veterans to work,” the governor said in a statement released after Quinn’s news conference. “We are calling on our United States senators and congressional delegation to reverse the Bush administration’s cuts.”

State officials said the displaced veterans have been offered other state jobs, and 12 have accepted. But one of the affected vets said the job he was offered paid $600 less per month, so he turned it down.

The vet, National Guard Staff Sgt. Bob Clingen, has served on humanitarian missions in El Salvador and Honduras, and he spent a year in Iraq in 2006 with his medical unit. He had been a security guard at the North Riverside National Guard Armory for about 10 years when he was fired Oct. 31.

It’s a job he said veterans are especially qualified for because they have ties to the men and women who use the armories for training and when they are being deployed overseas. Now, security guards from Securitas Inc., which was founded in Sweden, will take over the jobs of the 17 displaced veterans and three other state employees.

“We put our heart into this job,” said Clingen, 56, who lives in Griffith, Ind., and attended Quinn’s news conference.

Quinn called on Blagojevich to “honor these veterans by saving their jobs.”

At the opening of the Interstate Highway 355 extension, which included a Veterans Day observance, Blagojevich said he wants the federal government to restore funding and the jobs that the veterans lost.

The security jobs are within the state’s Department of Military Affairs. An Illinois National Guard spokeswoman, Army Lt. Col. Alicia Tate-Nadeau, said 70 Securitas guards were hired in June. The 20 state employees were fired last month because of a $1.1 million cut in federal funding, she said.

She also said the 20 former state security guards did not meet federal requirements such as being certified to carry firearms — a criticism that 28-year National Guard veteran Clingen called absurd.

“It’s ludicrous that they would even say that, when you’re talking about veterans,” Clingen said.

Tate-Nadeau said three of the displaced employees have retired, two are on non-work related disability and two are in arbitration over their firing. She could not account for the 20th employee.

She disputed Clingen’s contention that vets are more suited to working at the National Guard armories, calling the Securitas guards professional and well-trained. “Just because they were veterans did not mean they had a more acute awareness of what the requirements are,” she said.

Quinn, however, said he preferred the veterans.

“It’s very important in this time of terrorism that we have top-notch security,” he said.

“It’s important we get to the bottom of this,” he added. “It’s just not right.”

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I used to use these blades all the time in my vintage Gillette double edge razors with decent results.  I then moved on to Israeli Personas and found them to be superior in nearly every way.  Yesterday and again this morning I tried the USA Personas with what can only be termed bloody results.  Even with my most gentle razor a vintage Gillette Tech I had a less than satisfying shaving experience.  I’m swearing off these blades from now on and sticking to better blades.  Maybe I’ll even try some Feather’s one of these days.

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Pat Quinn who is the Lt. Governor of Illinois has spoken up for the laid of 17 veterans. You can find his statement here: http://www.standingupforillinois.org/feature.php?id=180

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Today is the day we remember our veterans. Their sacrifice and their duty. A few thoughts come to me on this day:

Our military has done a great job but they haven’t been given the right tools to do their job. We still haven’t found Bin Laden and I think the blame lies squarely with the President who took the military away from that pursuit to go into Iraq (which has turned out to be a major mistake of policy). The second thought that comes to me is that in Illinois we still have 17 veterans who are laid off thanks to the lack of effort by the administration in charge in Illinois. A silver cloud for those folks is that the Lt. Gov is giving a speech today about their plight and making light of the failures of his boss. Finally, our thoughts go out the people of the service who are serving all over the world and to their families who themselves make amazing sacrifices every day that fail to be appreciated nearly enough.

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Operating from your passion – Being passionate about what you do will draw people to you and ultimately bring you the most happiness.

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In the technology world there is a technology called a firewall that controls access to your network and helps discard unsavory information (please excuse this simplistic explanation if you are a technology person).  It is equally important to employ such a technique in your work life.  In bygone years many executives and managers had “gatekeepers” in the form of a secretary or administrative assistant.  For the most part those days are gone for the majority of knowledge workers.  In the past ten years I have had access to a shared assistant only once – and it was due to my boss having an assistant given to him and he didn’t know what to do with that person.

Since most of us won’t have a “gatekeeper” we need to devise effective means to control the access to us as well as the access to our attention.  With multiple inputs such as the phone, e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones, pagers, and the drop ins from co-workers it is even more important to wisely utilize your time during the workday.  I’m reminded of a recent project that required a few hours of concentration to complete.  In spite of my best efforts I was unable to make serious inroads with the project during normal work hours due to interruptions.  In the end, the only way I was able to give the project the time and thought that it needed was to come in on a Saturday to give the project the attention it needed.  Sometimes there’s no other way but to come in during a quiet time in the office over a weekend.

Besides coming in over a weekend (which is not really an effective use of the firewalling idea) what else can be done?  I think that the key is to define blocks of your day for certain kinds of work.  I have a friend who only listens to his voice mail a couple of times a day and this allows him to avoid the interruptions sure to take place from the inputs from the phone.     I have another friend who does the same with his e-mails.  I generally place my IM client as showing that I am away all the time.  I find that upon arriving at the office that I check my e-mails first and process that inbox for any items that require immediate attention.  I then check my voice mail looking out for any potential fires.  By this point I have an idea about what modifications to my morning schedule I may have to make.  I set aside the first 30 minutes of my days for these tasks as well as a review of my calendar for the day and a review of my Actions list.

Recently I have noticed that between 9:30 and 10:30 I receive many more inputs from people who are looking for “critical” data or need immediate assistance.  As a result I have shifted my schedule to take into account that I will be interrupted during these times and that it is essentially pointless to attempt to tackle items that require deep focus or concentration.  Sometimes it is necessary to readjust our personal expectations since continual interruptions can fray the nerves.

Another effective strategy is to keep “agendas” for people that you deal with on a regular basis and to have those items handy to discuss when they “drop in” on you.  It remains to be seen if such a strategy could effectively limit their visits in the future due to the fact that they may want to avoid discussing actual work items or you may be taking focus away from a project that they feel needs attention.  As always, use your best judgment.

To recap:

Define blocks of time for certain kinds of activities in your day

Read your e-mail and listen to voice mails at specific intervals during the day

Find the “flow” of your workplace and adjust your day accordingly

Use Agendas to cover necessary items with key people as they call or drop in at your desk

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The state of Illinois laid off 20 guards who were guarding National Guard bases in Illinois this week.  Ironically, their first day of layoff was on the first day of Illinois “Hire A Vet” month.  Seventeen of the guards were veterans.  The new guards will be supplied from a company from Sweeden.  It’s a pretty poor commentary on the state when they can’t do what is right by veterans who are employed by them.

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I hate Paul Harvey. Not in a “I wish he was dead” kind of way but in a “I wish he would get off the radio”. My main beef with him is that he lacks substance and sugar coats “the news”. He’s been this way for as long as I can remember.

Whenever he comes on the radio I switch to another station. The sound of his voice annoys me beyond belief.

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