I don't know what Rep. Richard Pombo (Tracy, CA Republican Representative), Chairman of the House Resources Committee, is thinking. According to the Fact Sheet - Pombo Reconciliation Draft Legislation Threatens America’s Heritage, Pombo is proposing to "close 15 national parks and sell them off to the oil and gas industries and private developers; demanded that park vehicles and facilities be turned into billboards for commercial advertising; and suggested that commercial naming rights be sold for park buildings and trails, among other unprecedented proposals." That proposal is simply ridiculous. It infuriates me.

The Sacramento Bee Editorial: Rep. Pombo's yard sale, calls this a “bizarre thought” --- to sell off the National Parks if we don’t drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I think it is not only bizarre but also barbaric. What kind of tactic is that? I hope the people of Tracy, CA know what their representative is doing. I hope they never re-elect Rep. Richard Pombo. I hope the people in the US never vote for anyone who thinks like Pombo.

Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Source of Picture: US Fish & Wildlife Service -Alaska

The 15 sites proposed to be closed are:

1. Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas
2. Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, Alaska
3. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska
4. Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska
5. Eugene O'Neill National Historical Site, California
6. Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Arizona
7. Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Site, Massachusetts
8. Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
9. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
10. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, Washington, D.C.
11. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota
12. Noatak National Preserve, Alaska
13. Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania
14. Thomas Stone National Historical Site, Maryland
15. Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska

Project Management Network Diagrams are helpful in determining where most of the schedule project risks will occur. A critical path is made up of activities that cannot be delayed without delaying the end date of the project.

How does one compute the critical path? The simple example below illustrates the process. If one has a network diagram such as:

Click to view original size

Find all the possible activities and the corresponding duration:

Then, the fun part ... Trace all the possible paths then sum up all the duration.

Click to view original size

From the simple example above, our critical paths are:
Start-A-B-E-F-C-End and Start-D-B-E-F-C-End.

Computing the critical path is a good way to manage project schedules and associated risks. If you are not using it, try it and it may make a big difference for you.

Joseph was listening to a podcast a week or so ago (sorry, I don't remember what it was ) and one of the site mentioned was SimplyHired.com . The site is easy to use and is convenient. It aggregates jobs from lots of sources like Hotjobs , Monster and other job sites. So, it minimizes going to multiple job sites. It has other features like rankings, mapping where the job location is, and other job hunting tools. So, it is a very convenient site to use. So, job seekers out there, I would certainly recommend this site to you.