OK can someone explain this to me please?

[Zorak]

thanks for explaining that guys. It's just different over here so I found it strange the leader of the country being able to meddle in the military so directly. I don't think PM's have that kind of power.

Obviously our military is under the Queens control.

But who's the de facto Commander in Chief for us? I'd say it's the PM

 

[edgray]

Obviously our military is under the Queens control.

But who's the de facto Commander in Chief for us? I'd say it's the PM

I don't think he could remove anyone from the top ranks though, he doesn't have that authority. The PM doesn't really have much to do with the military, Whitehall takes care of it. The PM just decides what crappy war he's sending them to...

 

[Zorak]

I don't think he could remove anyone from the top ranks though, he doesn't have that authority. The PM doesn't really have much to do with the military, Whitehall takes care of it. The PM just decides what crappy war he's sending them to...

So he's not in charge of HR, just the War part.

Good to know :sarcasm:24:

 

[edgray]

actually you are right Zorak, the PM holds de facto authority over the military. I don't think that would give him the power of highering and firing the upper echelons of the military though, I don't think Whitehall would stand for that as he doesn't actually have a rank as such.

 

[Accountable]

Whitehall? Lords, ministers, or both?

 

[Staci]

Our Constitution was set up so that the federal gov't wouldn't gain too much power over the individual states (that part's fucked now) and that no single branch would gain too much power over the other two.

F'rinstance, if the Constitution were followed, the President is the overall supreme commander of the military, but he can't declare war. Only congress (Senate and House of Representatives) can do that. Also, the President can call for any program he wants, but the House of Representatives holds the purse strings, and decides how much of the budget will be spent on the various programs.

When there's a disagreement, the Supreme Court is to interpret the law & decide who is right or even if the law follows the constitution at all.

Even the hiring is not decided by the same people. The President is elected by an electoral college manned by reps of each state. The House of Representatives are chosen by popular election. The Senators were originally chosen by their state's legislature, but that's changed to popular election, too. The Supreme Court is nominated by the President, with approval from the Senate.

It's designed to be complicated and cumbersome because the Founders knew that so much power in the hands of mere humans is too much to resist and stay honest.

wanna be my government teacher? you explained more to me in this post than i have learned in 3 weeks.

 

[edgray]

Whitehall? Lords, ministers, or both?

unelected officials. The top of the civil service, the administration for the govt. It's where the war office is amongst other things, and our very own X-Files UFO desk!

 

[Accountable]

wanna be my government teacher? you explained more to me in this post than i have learned in 3 weeks.

Wow, thanks!

That really means a lot to me.

unelected officials. The top of the civil service, the administration for the govt. It's where the war office is amongst other things, and our very own X-Files UFO desk!

Unelected?!? :eek

Appointed by the Queen at least, or do they just fill out an application to run the military?

 

[Maulds]

My question, what the hell was the guy thinking giving an interview to Rolling Stones magazine?

That is what I wondered as well.

 

[edgray]

Unelected?!? :eek

Appointed by the Queen at least, or do they just fill out an application to run the military?

No they work their way up through the military and through the civil service. The top ranks get paid significantly more that the PM. It's really the true power in Britain.

 

[Accountable]

I'm not sure how I'd feel about that. We think of gov't employees as simple bureaucrats, not to be trusted with weighty decisions because it's too difficult to fire them.

 

[edgray]

I'm not sure how I'd feel about that. We think of gov't employees as simple bureaucrats, not to be trusted with weighty decisions because it's too difficult to fire them.

I actually have more confidence in the administration than the elected officials to be honest. They're employed because they know their stuff, not because they've been elected on a few political sound bites... it's not ideal of course...

 

[Accountable]

I hope your selection criteria is better than ours. Our bureaucrats get promoted for maintaining a pulse. It's the Peter Principle here for sure!

 

[edgray]

I hope your selection criteria is better than ours. Our bureaucrats get promoted for maintaining a pulse. It's the Peter Principle here for sure!

I honestly have no idea! The civil service is rife with "jobs for the boys" so I suspect a fair amount of nepotism and cronyism going on...

 

[hart]

I hope your selection criteria is better than ours. Our bureaucrats get promoted for maintaining a pulse. It's the Peter Principle here for sure!

Hey I got a pulse, I want to be promoted to my level of incompetence, it aint happened yet, damn it! :mad

 

[Accountable]

Hey I got a pulse, I want to be promoted to my level of incompetence, it aint happened yet, damn it! :mad

Psst! You have to kill your boss.

 

[hart]

Naa, he's got a nice arse

 

[porterjack]

Naa, he's got a nice arse

how shallow

 

[Minor Axis]

I hope your selection criteria is better than ours. Our bureaucrats get promoted for maintaining a pulse. It's the Peter Principle here for sure!

Before the financial bubble popped, I had a conversation with our neighbor, a large hair cutting supply and boutique corporation V.P. about store managers. She told me that at one point, you actually had to have some managerial talent to become a store manager. Now she says, you just have to show up on a reliable basis to qualify as a manager! I'm trying to figure out the significance of that... Does that mean they are paying so little they can't get reliable help? I did not feel comfortable asking that to her face. You know in some retail locations, the store manager gets a large amount of responsibility heaped on them for about a $1 an hr increase in wages. I guess you would consider doing that if you wanted to climb the corporate ladder.

Anyway, does this have any relationship to what you are referring to? That's what it made me think of.

 

[Accountable]

Before the financial bubble popped, I had a conversation with out neighbor, a large hair cutting supply and boutique corporation V.P. about store managers. She told me that at one point, you actually had to have some managerial talent to become a store manager. Now she says, you just have to show up on a reliable basis to qualify as a manager! I'm trying to figure out the significance of that... Does that mean they are paying so little they can't get reliable help? I did not feel comfortable asking that to her face. You know in some retail locations, the store manager gets a large amount of responsibility heaped on them for about a $1 an hr increase in wages. I guess you would consider doing that if you wanted to climb the corporate ladder.

Anyway, does this have any relationship to what you are referring to? That's what it made me think of.

My experience is in the government. Federal for 21 years (military with exposure to civilian) and now in the Texas education system. In the federal system, most job vacancy descriptions call for 1 or 2 years at the next lower pay grade without a word about actual experience doing the work required. In my current position I was thinking about putting in for Behavior Specialist. My specific focus for my masters was in prompting motivation without affecting the budget (intrinsic motivational factors), wrote my masters thesis on that subject, and figured that it would translate nicely into a behavior specialist for high school. They told me that's all well and good but to come back when I've had 5 years in the district. On paper, a sixth year photography teacher would be more highly qualified than I. :willy_nilly: