The Foreign Service Journal, April 2011

notice a new emphasis on featuring pic- tures of our members; after all,AFSA is a membership organization and all of our work is done on behalf of our members. Perhaps most importantly, the new site has top-of-the-line e-commerce ca- pabilities, which allow visitors to per- form the following tasks securely online: • Join AFSA and renew membership • Update address, e-mail and other biographical information • Purchase Foreign Service Journal subscriptions • Donate toAFSA’s various causes and activities The new site also allows visitors to easily sign up for AFSAnet e-mail bul- letins, connect with us via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, contact AFSA staff andGoverning Board members, learn about upcoming AFSA events and participate in quick polls. Executive Director Ian Houston and Marketing & Outreach Manager Ásgeir Sigfússon managed the Web site project with tremendous support from the AFSAGoverning Board and staff, which made a newWeb site one of its main pri- orities for the current term. The site was developed and designed by aWashington, D.C.-based firm, Taoti Creative. We truly appreciate their hard work and dedication in making the process smooth and easy; the quality of their design speaks for itself. We also ap- preciate the cooperation of TMA Re- sources, which assisted in ensuring the security and ease of our e-commerce transactions. We always welcome suggestions about additional content that would be helpful to our members; please send any such thoughts to sigfusson@afsa.org . Photographs from the field of AFSA members would be particularly wel- come. A P R I L 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 A F S A N E W S V.P. VOICE: FAS BY HENRY SCHMICK Foreign Service Bumper Stickers W hether our daily existence consists of “multitasking” or “continuous partial attention,” it is clear that we live in an attention-deficient era. (Put down that BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, etc., and read this article!) The three-hour Lincoln-Douglas debates back in 1858 would now be limited to less than 10 minutes, with a 10-second “point-counterpoint” summary for the 6 p.m. news. Unfortunately, our lack-of- attention lifestyle is embedded in Capi- tol Hill. While individual members of Congress are very bright and hard- working, collectively they are reduced to repeating bumper-sticker slogans for lowest-common-denominator TV spots. While Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., among many others, have recently penned thoughtful articles outlining the national security justification for maintaining a strong Foreign Service, those articles are too long to catch the attention of our “just slogans, no facts” society. As Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., noted recently,“The first rule of politics is that when you are explaining, you are losing.” So it’s time to de- velop our own bumper stickers and plaster the Hill. It’s easy (and fun) to go negative: • Reform or we’ll send you a sharply worded démarche. • Money can’t buy you love; but we try. • Purchase our agricultural commodities, or we will dump them here. • With so much news, some of it is bound to be correct. But let’s take a more positive approach: State: We are in harm’s way before, during and after the military declares the mission over. We talk to the bad guys, so you don’t have to. USAID: Helping others helps the U.S. This is USAID: 0.005 percent of the U.S. budget. FCS: More U.S. jobs through more U.S. exports. Trade hand-holding for only $39.95 a day. FAS: Growing U.S. jobs through U.S. agricultural exports. Expanding global food security and U.S. jobs through U.S. agricultural exports. IBB: Tweet revenge. News just wants to be free. I would love to hear more ideas from you! Send any good suggestions to henryschmick@yahoo.com . While individual members of Congress are very bright and hard-working, collectively they are reduced to repeating bumper-sticker slogans for lowest-common- denominator TV spots. Web Site • Continued from page 47 Perhaps most importantly, the new site has top-of-the-line e-commerce capabilities.