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The NHS may need to cut its workforce by about 10 per cent — the equivalent of 137,000 staff — to help to meet planned savings of £20 billion, according to a leaked Department of Health report. A study commissioned from the consultancy firm McKinsey and Company recommends cutting clinical staff posts as well as administrators to meet efficiency savings by 2014, suggesting a knock-on effect to patient care.

More than 45,000 NHS workers call in sick each day — one and a half times the rate of absence seen in the private sector. The first national audit of staff habits has found that high rates of obesity, smoking, absenteeism and poor mental health are having a direct impact on the quality of patient care. Dr Steve Boorman, a leading occupational health expert, was asked by the Government to assess links between staff habits and NHS productivity. He will present his interim review today. His findings are drawn from six months of staff surveys, workshops, data reviews and responses...

Fears that President Obama may have been exposed to swine flu grew tonight after it was revealed that a member of the White House team that went with him to Mexico is suspected of contracting the disease. The president’s press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed today that a member of the advance team that went to Mexico to check on security has fallen ill. The man’s wife, son and nephew were also infected with flu and all four have tested as ‘probable’ with the virus. All four have recovered. Mr Gibbs said the security agent was never in close proximity to...

Yale Daily News Published: Friday, February 27, 2009 Yale will fire up to 300 staff By Isaac Arnsdorf and Victor Zapana Staff Reporter, Staff Reporter New projections on staff attrition indicate that as many as 300 employees could be laid off as Yale copes with the economic downturn, though administrators said today that the University will double severance benefits for those who lose their jobs in the next six months. The grim economic outlook has forced the University to cut deeper into staff salaries, slating the equivalent of 500 to 600 positions for elimination. But in a letter to Yale...

WASHINGTON — Even though President Barack Obama has repeatedly pledged to ban congressional earmarks, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has 16 such projects, worth about $8.5 million, in the bill the Senate is scheduled to begin debating Tuesday. The earmarks include funds for a Chicago planetarium and a Chicago suburb. Obama has been relentless in criticizing the use of earmarks; in his address to a joint session of Congress last week, he boasted how the economic stimulus package was "free of earmarks."

Washington, DC -- The Madoff fundraising scandal has had some beneficial fallout for the pro-life movement. Combined with the current economic downturn, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is feeling the pinch and has laid off 20 percent of its staff. The nation's largest abortion business, which does 25 percent of all abortions in the United States annually, laid off about 30 people this week.

A Beverly Hills-based company is being examined by a federal grand jury looking into contributions the firm made to political committees formed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. The grand jury apparently is investigating if the contributions that CDR Financial Products made had any impact on a New Mexico government contract that CDR landed from the state. According to reports, CDR received $1.48 million in 2004-05 for work done through the New Mexico Finance Authority. The authority is a government agency that issues bonds and finances building and public works projects throughout New Mexico. CDR was involved in helping put...

Link only - Associated Press to slash 10 percent of staff

For more than a year the American people have been tortured, ad nauseum, with the Obama campaign theme, “Change We Can Believe In.” Republicans... and a few curious Democrats... have asked to be enlightened on the exact meaning of that theme, but to no avail. Their inquiries have been met either with stony silence or meaningless platitudes... most equating to whatever is the anti-Bush theme of the day in Democratic circles. But now that Obama is the presumptive president-elect we’ll very soon get to see exactly what he meant. (Obama will not be the president-elect until sometime around noon EST,...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Friday directing state agencies to study the effects of global warming and recommend how the state needs to adapt to such changes in land use planning and building new infrastructure. "Given the serious threat of sea level rise to California's water supply, population and our economy, it's critically important that we make sure the state is prepared," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement. The executive order was signed after a conference Friday in Long Beach on global warming and water infrastructure that was sponsored in part by the state Department of...

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama chose Illinois lawmaker Rahm Emanual to be his White House chief of staff, his first selection for the new administration, Democratic officials said Wednesday. If Emanuel accepts, the congressman would return to the White House where he served as a political and policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. Several Democrats also said Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was actively seeking appointment as secretary of State in the new administration. Two campaign officials said the appointment of a chief of staff was not expected for at least a day. Instead, they said Obama would issue a written...

Members of Hillary Clinton's advance staff received calls and emails this evening from headquarters summoning them to New York City Tuesday night, and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending, two Clinton staffers tell my colleague Amie Parnes. The advance staffers — most of them now in Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana — are being given the options of going to New York for a final day Tuesday, or going home, the aides said. The move is a sign that the campaign is beginning to shed — at least — some of its staff. The advance staff...

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign is asking staff members to disclose all previous lobbying ties following the resignation of two officials linked to a firm that worked for Myanmar's military junta. A memo from McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, also instructs staff to make certain they are no longer registered as lobbyists or foreign agents. It was issued following the resignations of Doug Goodyear, who was to run the Republican National Convention, and Doug Davenport, a regional campaign director for the mid-Atlantic states. Both worked for DCI Group, a consulting firm hired to improve the image of Myanmar's military junta....

LONDON (Reuters) - A lack of Muslim and Arabic-speaking staff at a jail that detains terrorism suspects is creating a security risk because they could not understand what inmates were discussing, a government report revealed on Wednesday. Despite staff working at Long Lartin prison's specialist terrorism unit insisting such culture training was essential, authorities had yet to introduce any sufficient education, a report by the Prisons' chief inspector found. Anne Owers' report said that while managers had "taken steps to raise cultural awareness" - with visits to mosques and funding Arabic lessons - it was a small step "given the...

Climate change protesters banned from campaigning at Heathrow Airport have taken their demonstration to the Airbus Superjumbo factory in north Wales. Six campaigners boarded a barge carrying a wing from the company's plant in Broughton, Flintshire. A spokesman for campaign group Plane Stupid said Broughton was targeted in reaction to an injunction against protesters near London's Heathrow. North Wales Police said the protesters were moved on after about an hour. The Broughton plant produces wings for the A380, the world's largest passenger plane. Last week, Heathrow operator BAA won a High Court ruling banning certain protesters taking action. Leo Murray,...

Jefferson's staff heads for the exits Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, who went through a major staff turnover for the start of the 110th congressional session, is going through another staff upheaval. In the past couple of weeks, Jefferson lost his chief of staff, Eugene Green and press secretary Remi Braden-Cooper. A legislative assistant, Jack Swetland, has announced he's leaving soon. Calls to Jefferson's office seeking a comment were not returned. Jefferson was indicted June 4 by a Virginia grand jury on 16 charges including bribery, racketeering and violation of the foreign corruption practices act. A trial is now scheduled...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican Senator John McCain's waning White House bid was rocked Tuesday by the loss of its top two strategists, as they paid the price for shaky fundraising and plunging poll numbers. News broke that campaign manager Terry Nelson and top consultant John Weaver had quit as McCain was on the floor of the US Senate backing US policy on Iraq -- the issue that has done more than anything to dent his campaign. Once the presumed Republican establishment front-runner, McCain, a Vietnam war hero, is now short of cash, alienated from many key conservative voters and facing...

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2007 – President Bush visited wounded servicemembers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here today, and he praised the center’s personnel for their work. “It's a true honor to come to Walter Reed to be able to see the docs and nurses, the physical therapists who are working with our wounded soldiers,” Bush said. “The care here is remarkable.” The president acknowledged that there have been some problems for wounded troops receiving care at Walter Reed, but those problems are being addressed and the medical center is providing excellent care. “There (have) been some bureaucratic red-tape...

Per FR excerpt/link policy, tennessean.com is link only. STORY

BALTIMORE - The NAACP said it is cutting about 40 percent of its national staff and closing, at least temporarily, its seven regional offices to cover three years of budget shortfalls. The civil rights group will reduce its staff from 119 to 70 through layoffs and attrition to avoid draining more of its shrinking reserves, interim president and chief executive officer Dennis Hayes said. The Baltimore headquarters will remain open and still offer services provided by the regional offices, he said. "We are right-sizing our organization to meet present circumstances," Hayes told The Baltimore Sun for an article published Thursday....

The launch of Fred Thompson's website last night was welcome news for his legions of online supporters. Now comes word that Jon Henke, the newest hire at New Media Strategies, will be working on Thompson's account for the firm. The Henke hire is a major coup for New Media Strategies, which needed someone of Henke's stature to manage Thompson's online operation. Henke has posted more details about the job on QandO, his blogging home before taking a job with the George Allen campaign last year. Henke was brought on board to clean up the mess created by the "macaca" incident....

Just Breaking

Reading some of the shrill comments posted online by World Bank staffers expressing (anonymously) their loathing for Paul Wolfowitz, you can understand why the bank president feels he has been the victim of a " smear campaign." But in taking the role of wounded victim, Wolfowitz seems blind to his own mistakes, which have had ruinous consequences for a great institution. Wolfowitz has failed at the World Bank not because his underlings were out to get him (though many probably were) but because he treated the organization itself as an enemy. He saw its professional staff as an impediment to...

NORFOLK (NNS) -- A team of 85 Navy members will leave Naval Station Norfolk on Feb. 8 to begin a yearlong deployment to fill vital staff billets for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and to serve a crucial role in a region of strategic importance in the global war on terrorism. CJTF HOA's mission is to prevent regional conflict and strengthen the relationships the United States has with our coalition partners to better assist Africans in helping Africa. "This deployment for many of us is atypical of deployments we have done in the past," said Chief Sonar Technician...

As Governor Schwarzenegger prepares for a second term in office, he's bringing in a few new faces and shuffling some of the current folks to new positions. Dan Dunmoyer becomes the governor's new Cabinet Secretary, the main liaison between Schwarzenegger's inner circle and the myriad of state agencies. Dunmoyer, who has been on the governor's staff for the past year, is best known in Capitol circles as the former head of the Personal Insurance Federation of California-- the lobbying association of the "property-casualty" insurance industry. Dunmoyer becomes Governor Schwarzenegger's fourth Cabinet secretary in the past three years. Meantime, the governor's...

A staff rebellion at the Los Angeles Times against its Chicago owners has escalated, with more than 300 journalists signing a petition to be delivered on Thursday to directors at a Tribune Company board meeting. The petition is in support of the paper's editor, Dean Baquet, and publisher, Jeffrey Johnson, who last week defied Tribune's demands to make deeper cuts at the paper, arguing that it would damage quality. It coincides with a campaign by Los Angeles civic leaders, including Warren Christopher, the former secretary of state, to press Tribune to consider selling the paper to local worthies. Already, at...

Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Peter Schoomaker pins a Purple Heart on Spc. Rebecca Macintyre, a motor transport operator with the 96th Aviation Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, during a ceremony at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael Pfaff Chief of Staff Visits Soldiers at Speicher By U.S. Army Spc. Michael Pfaff TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 21, 2006 -- Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Peter Schoomaker visited troops at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, Aug. 16. Schoomaker met with troops during several reenlistment, award, and “coin” ceremonies, in which Schoomaker personally...

6/23/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- A sergeant severely wounded in action in Iraq received the Purple Heart Medal today, pinned on his chest by the Air Force chief of staff. Staff Sgt. Israel del Toro Jr. accepted the medal from Gen. T. Michael Moseley at a ceremony at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. More than 200 people attended the event, including family members. The sergeant, supported by family members, fellow controllers, A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots, Soldiers, an Airman Leadership School class and the hospital medical staff was at a loss for words because...

RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq, May 30, 2006 – NATO servicemembers are working with Iraqis here to train the new Iraqi army. Rustamiyah is the home of the Iraqi Military Academy and the Iraqi Joint Service College. It is also the temporary home of 80 NATO servicemembers who are helping the Iraqi army become a modern, effective force. Italian air force Brig. Gen. Agostino Mazzei leads the NATO effort here, and Italy is the lead nation in the effort. During a recent interview, the general said the NATO and Iraqi personnel went through a lot in setting up the course, but it was...

University of California President Robert C. Dynes said Wednesday "overactive secrecy," helped create a situation where millions in perks were quietly doled out to top executives. Fallout over the extra compensation intensified with some calling for Dynes to resign. But it was unclear whether he had lost the confidence of UC's governing Board of Regents the only people with the authority to fire him. Regents met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss Dynes' role in approving violations of UC pay policies and board Chairman Gerald Parsky said he would have no comment on UC leadership until Thursday. Concerns about how...

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker (left) receives a guided tour of the Iraqi army's armored vehicles at Camp Taji, Iraq, April 19, 2006, from Iraqi army Maj. Gen. Ayoub Bashar (right), commanding general, 9th Iraqi Army Division, as U.S. Army Col. John Hort, senior advisor to the 9th Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team, observes. U.S. Army photo by Maj. David Olson U.S. Army Chief of Staff Visits Iraqi Soldiers Iraqi soldiers from the 9th Iraqi Army Division displayed their armored vehicles for inspection during the visit. By U.S. Army Maj. David Olson 1st Brigade Combat...

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2006 – The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve has lauded first lady Laura Bush's chief of staff for outstanding support of military reservists. ESGR, an agency of the Department of Defense, announced yesterday that Anita McBride, deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady, was honored with an ESGR Patriot Award in recognition of her extraordinary support of a staff employee who serves in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Maria Miller, deputy director of projects in the Office of the First Lady, is a Naval Reservist who nominated...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Katherine Harris' U.S. Senate campaign lost what was left of its core team when a top adviser, campaign manager, and communications director resigned this weekend. Harris, a Republican congresswoman challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record), said Saturday she would introduce new members of her campaign early in the week. "We are stronger as a campaign today than we were yesterday," Harris said in a press release. Harris said her campaign has lined up people who believe in her candidacy, are committed, and support the "values of mainstream Florida citizens." Former campaign manager Jim...

NAOMI Campbell has been charged with assaulting her housekeeper, New York police said after arresting the supermodel at her Park Avenue home today. A police spokesman said Campbell had been charged with second degree assault and the housekeeper was taken to hospital after the incident. The spokesman had no further details on the woman's injuries. Campbell, still one of the biggest names in fashion at the age of 35, was fingerprinted and photographed at a police station and was due to be taken to court later for arraignment, a police spokeswoman said. Campbell's agent, Amanda Silverman, said in a statement:...

Jackson's ranch closed after staff go unpaid By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 11/03/2006) Michael Jackson has been ordered to shut down his fantasy-themed Neverland Valley Ranch and fined nearly £100,000 for failing to pay his employees or maintain proper insurance. California officials closed the sprawling estate in the Santa Ynez valley, Santa Barbara, and barred workers from the property after discovering that the singer had allowed the compensation policy protecting employees to lapse in January. Michael Jackson failed to pay his employees Jackson, 47, who has spent much of his time in Bahrain since he was acquitted last...

DALLAS, Texas (Army News Service, March 7, 2006) – More than 260 troops from the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force were treated to a special ‘welcome home’ from Gen. Richard A. Cody, vice chief of staff of the Army March 4. Cody joined airport staff and volunteers from the “Welcome Home a Hero” program at the airport to greet the service members. “America is behind you,” Cody said in an address to the troops. “I know how important that it is for you to know, and you are about to see exactly what I mean here at Dallas/Fort Worth.”...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 19, 2006) -- Since December 1997, he has flown off the coast of Macedonia and over the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, during four deployments. He has progressed from a lance corporal to a sergeant who holds all the flight qualifications and designations of the CH-46 Sea Knight. He is trusted as the most dependable crew chief instructor by his squadron’s commanding officer. Sergeant Daniel Wilson, a quality assurance representative with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 266, is currently serving in a staff noncommissioned officer billet and represents the Fighting Griffins for combat meritorious staff sergeant at...

I have a Scout District that is 6,215 square miles, Cochise is as big as Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. I'm in the process of spliting up the Assistant District Commissioner Duties by population area (5) and will end up doing a bit of driving to meet on a regular basis with each of them. Adding to this I have to build up the Commissioner Staff from almost ZERO to cover 85 units (1 commissioner for every 3 units) plus Roundtable staff for each area. In the process of building How-To books for each commssioner regardless of the level. Any...

This Veterans Day we honor those men and women who have defended our nation in the Armed Forces. Today is an opportunity for Americans to recognize the tremendous accomplishments and proud heritage of all who have worn the uniform of the United States military. In our short history, tens of millions of Americans have served in uniform - and many have made the ultimate sacrifice in order to preserve the freedoms enjoyed by the people of the United States. Veterans have served with distinction to protect the founding ideals of this Nation and to extend those same ideals to those...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot call for California to live within its means is triggering questions about whether his own administration is living within its means -- especially when it comes to his wife, Maria Shriver. Shriver doesn't hold elected office, but records show she does command a half-million-dollar-a-year staff -- which, depending on how you cut it, is anywhere from $60,000 to $180,000 more than what her predecessor, Sharon Davis, had. Recently, Daniel Zingale -- a Democratic gay rights advocate who had been working on Controller Steve Westly's gubernatorial campaign -- was appointed Shriver's $123,255 chief of staff. When he...

WASHINGTON, DC. (Army News Service, Oct. 5, 2005) – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker delivered the keynote address Tuesday at the Association of the United States Army’s luncheon at the Washington Convention Center. The chief told the full house, the war on terror would not be a short one. “It will be a long war because of the insidious nature of the threat,” Schoomaker said. “It is not clear many grasp the scope of what we have done.” Chief cites accomplishments He went on to cite some of the Army’s major accomplishments in the four-year old conflict. “For...

SACRAMENTO — California First Lady Maria Shriver named as her top aide Tuesday a former senior official to ex-Gov. Gray Davis, the Democrat her husband tarred in the 2003 recall campaign as the symbol of ineffectual government. Daniel Zingale, who served under Davis as the link between the governor's office and the vast state bureaucracy, will be the new chief of staff to Shriver, a Democrat. He will return to the governor's suite of offices on the first floor of the Capitol, this time surrounded by many Republicans who labored to oust Davis. Zingale has also been an unpaid political...

Admirals, I made a day trip to the Gulf Coast this weekend to visit with and thank our Sailors for the extraordinary work they are doing in the recovery and relief effort. I spent time at the Seabee base in Gulfport, NSA New Orleans and NAS/JRB New Orleans, as well as aboard HARRY S TRUMAN, BATAAN, TORTUGA and IWO JIMA. It was at once both a grim and an incredibly uplifting experience. Some of my impressions:

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HONOR, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 18, 2005) – Iraqi Army officers from the 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, trained on an important side of their profession during a coalition-sponsored exercise July 25. The U.S. military calls it Civil Military Operations, which includes missions such as providing humanitarian assistance to communities when needed, or conducting an economic assessment of a district in Baghdad. Civil affairs Soldiers from 4th Brigade Troops Battalion; 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment; and 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, all of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, provided the training to the...

Cabin staff struggled to control crash plane By Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia (Filed: 17/08/2005) The cabin crew of the Helios Airlines plane that crashed in Greece on Sunday tried to bring it under control but could do nothing to save the aircraft, it was disclosed yesterday. Video footage retrieved from the nose cones of the F16 fighter planes scrambled to accompany the stricken Cypriot aircraft showed a man and a woman enter the cockpit, said Greek media reports. They were thought to be a newly-trained pilot standing in as cabin crew and his stewardess girlfriend. The stewardess was seen in...

Two on Daley staff accused of doling out patronage jobs Feds say drunk, 'goofballs' hired; scandal moves closer to mayor July 20, 2005 CHICAGO (AP) -- One was a drunk. Some were laughed at as "goofballs." One was declared the best-qualified candidate for a job on the city payroll -- even though he was dead. All of them were recommended for city jobs or hired because they were politically connected and helped to get out the vote on Election Day, according to U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald. "That's the world we want to end," Fitzgerald said Monday in announcing charges...

Scores of lawmakers disclose travel files One representative missed the reporting deadline by years. The Associated Press Scrutiny of Majority Leader Tom DeLay's travel has led to the belated disclosure of at least 198 previously unreported special interest trips by House members and their aides, including eight years of travel by the second-ranking Democrat, an Associated Press review has found. At least 43 House members and dozens of aides had failed to meet the one-month deadline in ethics rules for disclosing trips financed by organizations outside the U.S. government. The AP review of thousands of pages of records covered pre-2005...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Claiming invasion of privacy and humiliation, a staff attorney for a US senator has filed suit against a woman who published details of their sexual relationship on her blog, or web log. Robert Steinbuch, a counsel for Republican Senator Michael DeWine, filed the civil suit on Monday against Jessica Cutler, whose brief employment on DeWine's staff was terminated by revelations about her graphic journal of her sexual escapades. Writing under the nom de plume "Washingtonienne," Cutler last year briefly kept an X-rated on-line diary of her simultaneous relationships with up to six men around town, including an...

Speaker Hastert Letter to Leader Pelosi 58 minutes ago To: National Desk Contact: Ron Bonjean of the Office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, 202-225-2800 WASHINGTON, April 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today sent the following letter to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): April 27, 2005 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi H-204, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Dear Leader Pelosi: Thank you for your letter of April 12. I too am troubled that the Standards Committee has been unable to organize. I am especially troubled that this impasse has been attributed to the adoption by the House of...

President Bush intends to name Marine Gen. Peter Pace the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officials said yesterday, replacing Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, whose term ends this autumn. Announcement of the decision is due soon and probably will include the nomination of Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. as the new vice chairman, officials said. The selection of the two officers for the Pentagon's top military posts would team Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld with a pair of senior officers with whom he is very familiar. Pace, 59, has served as vice chairman of the...