u/WallCautious9650

that's a contender

-then trade DFS and draft capital for Jalen Smith

Start: FVV, KD, Giannis, Amen, Jalen Smith

Bench: Reed, Rollins, Portis, Tari, Adams, Capela

call it in

They're bound to figure out the game of basketball....any day now! They work so hard! They're hard workers!

Edit: I'm playin' around, but only slightly. Amen is A LOT better, but I wouldn't feel comfortable giving him more than Jabari money

Vol. 1 of my experience serving as a GS-15 probationary employee in the Department of Defense supporting an Assistant Secretary, specifically regarding the improper role of a contractor in my office and its impact on my employment.

I was hired during the Biden administration, transitioning directly from a contractor position into a GS-15 role supporting an Assistant Secretary.

Several months into my assignment, a contractor was brought into the office in a support capacity. I later became aware that she had a prior professional relationship with my Deputy, an SES Tier 3 official who also served as my direct supervisor. I also learned that the Deputy had requested this contractor by name to be included on the contract.

Following her arrival, meetings with the Assistant Secretary in which I had previously participated were consistently canceled for me, while the contractor was included in senior-level discussions from which I was excluded. This represented a significant change in access and workflow.

In one instance, a military O-6 approached the contractor in our shared workspace regarding an upcoming engagement. I informed him that such matters should be directed through me as the responsible government civilian. He responded that the Deputy had instructed him to coordinate with the contractor going forward.

When I raised this issue with my Deputy, he initially denied knowledge of the situation. When I pressed further, the conversation escalated and became adversarial.

Despite these issues, I continued to perform my duties and developed a proposed process improvement to bring structure to the workflow. I coordinated the proposal with the contractor and planned to present it to the Assistant Secretary. I was terminated the day before that presentation.

The contractor remained in place after my termination and continued performing work that had previously been within the scope of my GS-15 responsibilities, including duties she had been supporting during my tenure.

Following my separation, I contacted contractor directly over text. During a subsequent conversation, she stated that she had transitioned to another contract and described a longstanding professional relationship with my former Deputy, including informal social interactions in the smoke pit.

I subsequently raised these concerns with the contractor's HR and provided a detailed account of the issues described above. HR indicated that they would review the matter and later informed me that they found no wrongdoing. I was not contacted for additional follow-up or clarification during that review process.

Based on my experience, I believe there are unresolved questions regarding the contractor’s role relative to government contractor overreach and improper supervision.

Why are these being published on his paid Substack? He’s a full-time employee at The Ringer — Head of Content, no less. If you’re going to run your own Substack on the side, fine, but then why is The Ringer also publishing links to it?

If an editor at The Atlantic wanted to write an article, wouldn’t it be strange if they (1) published it on their own paid Substack instead of in The Atlantic, and then (2) promoted that Substack link on TheAtlantic.com?

Really well-done 4 hour (4 episode) doc. Had never heard of Dean Potter before this (I'm not a rock climber or anything like that). It’s about the climber/adventurer who died BASE jumping in 2015. Volatile, ultra-competitive guy who was always near the top but never quite the best. Honnold being better seemed to eat at him. If Honnold is the Michael Jordan of climbing, Potter was like Kobe if Kobe risked dying every time he stepped on the court.