Groundbreaking news from the Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources this week announcing that one of the nation’s biggest ever biosecurity exercises in history was being conducted to test Australia’s readiness to fight off the damaging pest the Varroa mite.
Describing the mite as a major parasite which was creating chaos around the world by infecting honey bees, the Department put its ‘mitey’ message across with the solemnity such a potential treat deserves while at the same time cementing its widely admired reputation as one of the public sector’s most creative outfits.
“Government and industry stakeholders from across the country are taking part in one of the nation’s largest biosecurity exercises,” the Department’s official statement articulated seriously.
“To help Australia bee prepared,” it snuck in! (underline added by PS-sssst!).
If nothing else, this is a Department that deserves universal admiration for its dedication and determination to be noticed.
Another 10 out of 10 performance!
Pre-tentious?
And while in the mood for cleverness, the rock stars at Geoscience Australia (GA) also prompted PS-sssst! to peg their perspicacity in particular for their penetratingly piercing portrayal of a positive picture of poise and prudence in a particular pronouncement of piquancy.
And the purpose of this plethora of P-ness?
GA has labelled its mass spectrometer the ‘Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe’, which they pelagically abbreviate to the particularly piscine acronym SHRIMP.
And what’s a shrimp if it’s not a Prawn?
Living droll!
Turning to the welcome return of PS-sssst’s old friend Philomena S of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services now who has delightfully decorated our working lives with samples of the absurd and bizarre picked lovingly from the English language which just keeps on entertaining, amusing and inspiring us with its silliness.
Among Philomena’s droll discoveries this time are a pair of thespianic brainteasers bound to amuse many of us while prompting just as many to sigh a groan.
“Why do we tell actors to break a leg?” the inquisitive Philomena asks rhetorically. “Because every play should have a cast!”
BaBoom!
Then: “Did you hear about the actor who fell through the floorboards?” she persevered.
“She was just going through a stage.”
Ughs all round.
And to quit while she’s behind, Philomena posed the following: “Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers?”
“He’ll stop at nothing to avoid them.”
Great fun Philomena. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Now let’s get back to work!
Doing the giveaway
To this week’s weekly free giveaway now in which Rama Gaind has found four copies of Matt Malouf’s inspiring guide to becoming a success The Stop Doing List to giveaway to four lucky readers.
For a chance to join Rama’s winners, all we needed to do was report back to her the advice Malouf offers for becoming smarter about growth, the answer to which was to start developing our own Stop Doing List.
The four wise readers who picked up the advice and then emerged from the PS News Barrel of Booty were Catherine L from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Mina C from the Department of Home Affairs, Fiona K from the Australian Border Force and Alex M from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who took part. The winners’ books will be on their way shortly.
For another chance to join Rama’s long list of lucky PS News winners, simply visit this link to her latest giveaway and try your luck.
Best wishes to all who do.
Confer and conquer
And finally, let’s go conferencing.
After 12 years of pairing off hundreds of conscientious PS staff with hundreds of learned and career-enhancing conferences dealing with almost every topic of interest under the public sector sun, PS News has finally launched a special conference directory for use by anyone keen to know where the most reputable, reliable and rewarding conferences can be found.
After dumping its decade old ‘Alerts’ service due to scammer activity, PS News has taken the big step forward to build a unique one-stop directory for all to use.
As usual, the PS News Conference Directory will have an edge over others as it’s designed solely for the PS community and will include only reputable providers who deliver what they promise and are fully aware of PS needs and preferences.
In addition, the new PS News Conference Directory will be fully searchable for topics of interest and include online contacts and direct links for more information.
While it is still a work in progress, the Directory can be accessed at this PS News link and as usual, we will welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions for how we can make it better.
Another service for the Public Service from PS News. We reckon you’ll like it.
Till next week…..
