Alphabet agencies in the federal government--most armed

 ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

 BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs 

BOP Federal Bureau of Prisons 

CBP U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

DEA Drug Enforcement Administration 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOJ Department of Justice 

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation 

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation 

FDA Food and Drug Administration 

FLEO Federal law enforcement officer 

FPDS-NG Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation 

FPS Federal Protective Service 

FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 GSA General Services Administration 

HHS U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

ICE U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

IRS Internal Revenue Service

ESO Law Enforcement Support Office 

NIH National Institutes of Health 

NPPD National Protection and Programs Directorate 

OECA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance 

OIG Office of Inspector General 

PSC product or service code 

SSA Social Security Administration 

TIGTA Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 

TSA Transportation Security Administration 

USMS U.S. Marshals Service 

USSS U.S. Secret Service 

VA U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

 VHA Veterans Health Administration

GAO-19-175, FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: Purchases and Inventory Controls of Firearms, Ammunition, and Tactical Equipment

Acronyms, medical

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Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University

Government calls it an overhaul

Business owners call it overwhelming. That's a great full page, b & w drawing in today's WSJ. Sometimes a drawing is worth its weight in text and photographs. It is sharp, snappy and succinct. Beginning on the left there's a pile of documents--Common law, case law, local laws and state laws. As you move over to the right (although it's really left--it's just that we read from left to right--for now), that pile gets added to incrementally, until the last column is huge with 38 acronyms representing laws and regulations piled on top of the first group. Things like ARRA, HIPPA, COBRA, FICA, MHPA, HIRE, HEART, and so forth, until you get to the biggest, baddest law of them all, PPACA, "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."

Government acronym: CSEPP

I didn’t know we had a Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) whose mission is to “enhance existing local, installation, tribal, State, and Federal capabilities to protect the health and safety of the public, work force, and environment from the effects of a chemical accident or incident involving the U.S. Army chemical stockpile.” According to the page I read, the stockpiles are secured on seven U.S. Army installations in the continental United States. The map, which was hot linked with colored dots, had eight dots. The first location I checked said it was one of six locations in the nation where chemical weapons are stockpiled.

The chemical agents of primary concern to CSEPP are the nerve agents GB and VX and the blister agents H, HT and HD. The chemical agents are stored in three basic configurations: (1) projectiles, cartridges, mines, and rockets containing propellant and/or explosive components; (2) aircraft delivered munitions that do not contain explosive components; and (3) steel one-ton containers. Most of the stockpile (61%) is in the latter form.

So how'd you like to live in that county? So is it six, seven or eight? Did one of these guys get reassigned to recovery.gov which has bungled many of the numbers and dollars for ARRA for jobs not lost?

I also learned that in 1985 the United States Congress ordered that these weapons be eliminated in the safest manner possible. So that’s what these websites are all about, the ongoing elimination of chemical weapons. "Enhance" in government speak means "eliminate." I guess that's why the health care bill is going to enhance the lives of so many seniors. If we haven't been able to get rid of these in a quarter of a century, what's the rush on health care?

Information you can use--or not

When I was researching the very expensive food programs (huge increase during the Bush years) for low income, "food insecure" residents (many not citizens), I was awash in acronyms, so I started to jot them down. Then I found out by following one of my own links, that someone has already done this here. They are hot linked on that page. About 25 years ago I used to work for the Ohio Department of Aging, and I recognize a few of these. I gained new respect for career government workers in that job (although not for those who got offices because of party affiliation). When I volunteer at the Lutheran Food Pantry I meet people whose very lives are controlled by these acronyms, so show some respect. Learn what they mean. These are the methods by which people will remain low income from birth to death because there's no reason to leave if WIC feeds you as a toddler and the school feeds you for 12 years (if you finish), and SNAP (food stamps) provides the bare bones of the diet, and the food pantry goes for the extras at the end of the month, and Medicaid covers the health insurance, and TANF, PHA, FMR, LIHTC or HOME keeps a roof over your head, and AAA sends out the nutritious meals in old age. It's not luxurious living, but it pays the bills and keeps them out of higher end neighborhoods and brings votes for politicians.

AAA
Area Agencies on Aging

ACDA
American Commodity Distribution Association

AMS
Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA

ACFP
Child & Adult Care Food Program, FNS/USDA

CAP
Commodity Acceptability Progress Reports

CCC
Commodity Credit Corporation, FSA/USDA

CI
Charitable Institutions

CID
Commercial Item Description

CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS

CIC
Commodity Improvement Council, USDA

CLOC
Commodity Letter of Credit

CSFP
Commodity Supplemental Food Program, FNS/USDA

ASNP
Deputy Administrator for Special Nutrition Programs (SNP), FNS/USDA

DHHS
Department of Health & Human Services

COS
Electronic Commodity Ordering System

EFOs
Emergency Feeding Organizations

FD
Food Distribution, FNS/USDA

FDA
Food and Drug Administration, DHHS

FDPIR
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, FNS/USDA

FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency

FNCS
Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

FNIC
Food and Nutrition Information Center

FNS
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA

FNSRO
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Regional Office

FOIA
Freedom of Information Act

FSA
Farm Service Agency, USDA

FSIS
Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA

FSMC
Food Service Management Companies

FY
Fiscal Year

HACCP
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point

HHP
Household Programs, FNS/USDA

ITOs
Indian Tribal Organizations

KCCO
Kansas City Commodity Office, FSA/USDA

NAFDPIR
National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations

NFSMI
National Food Service Management Institute

NSIP
Nutrition Services Incentive Program, FNS/USDA (formerly NPE)

NSLP
National School Lunch Program, FNS/USDA

NPA
National Processing Agreements

NPE
Nutrition Program for the Elderly, FNS/USDA (now NSIP)

OANE
Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation, FNS/USDA

OIG
Office of the Inspector General, USDA

OGC
Office of General Counsel, USDA

OMB
Office of Management and Budget

PCIMS
Processed Commodity Inventory Management System

SI
Schools & Institutions

SBP
School Breakfast Program, FNS/USDA

SC
Summer Camps

SDA
State distributing agency

SEA
State education agency

SFA
School Food Authority

SFSP
Summer Food Service Program, FNS/USDA

SNA
School Nutrition Association (SNA)

SOC
State Option Contracts [Program], AMS/FNS/USDA

SDA
State distributing agency

SEA
State education agency

SNAP
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, FNS/USDA

SNP
Special Nutrition Programs, FNS/USDA

SY
School Year

TANF
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

TEFAP
The Emergency Food Assistance Program, FNS/USDA

USDA
United States Department of Agriculture

WIC
Women, Infants and Children, FNS/USDA

A most awkward acronym

Acronyms are wonderful--whole committees can spend time designing them, others are delightfully accidental. Whether the SOB Alliance (State of Ohio Blogger) of which I'm a part was intentional, I don't know. I've written entire blog entries about acronyms. In my early days (mid-1980s) as Head of the Veterinary Medicine Library, which made me part of Heads of Undergraduate and Departmental Librarians at The Ohio State University Libraries (head of VET, member of HUDL, at OSUL) I had a computer, but it was stand alone, not connected to any other libraries and the internet in its present form and World Wide Web (WWW) were still a fantasy. But there were encyclopedias of acronyms and reverse acronyms, and I could sneak away from my duties to browse, just as today librarians all over the world find reasons to poke around the web, read their e-mail, listservs, and blogs and experiment with social networking (all in the name of better service to the library user).

All this as introduction to one of the best in describing what it was finally worth before someone renamed it after 40 years. COCU. That stands for Consultation on Church Union, but bears a striking resemblance to cuckoo, or cuckholded, indeed, cocu is French for cuckhold. Both words come from the French and mean unfaithful, whether laying eggs in another's nest or adultery, link.

No word better describes the irrelevance of the modern church's ecumenical movement and it's proclamation of authority as it fled both the authority of Scripture and the authority of the Roman Church than COCU. For a while it fueled the rise of the evangelicals who stood in the gap created by liberal protestants and catholics, but even they have been marginalized and warrenized, attempting to "emerge" but from what and to what they aren't sure and don't agree.

Usually, I don't cite Wikipedia as an authority because--well, it isn't--but in this case, COCU is so insignificant and so funny, I'll send you there. Wikis can be edited by no one in particular, and this entry is begging for editors. So if you're an expert on failures in Protestantism, have a go.

Pronounceable Acronyms

Acronyms have fascinated me since my early librarian days when we used primarily paper resources. I think Gale published a thick 3 volume set (also the reverse list) even back in the 80s. I'm always finding new ones that are completely understood in certain professions, but sound funny to outsiders.

TrOOP = true out-of-pocket, not to be confused with OOP, out-of-pocket: This is a government insurance acronym, and you can read a 30 page book on it here. While there, you'll notice all the unpronounceable ones like OIG, OAS, OEI, OI, OCIG, CoBC, PDE, MA-PD, MMA, ECRS, and CMS (whenever you see this last one it's a clue that it's about Medicare).

MOLDI = Mid-Ohio Library Digital Initiative. Wow. Leave it to librarians to find a pronouceable acronym that leaves a bad taste in your ears! Instead of reading a book, you can download it 24/7. Ever a baby step behind, it is not compatible with the Apple I-Pod right now.

DISCOVER = Disease Investigation Through Specialized Clinically-Oriented Ventures in Environmental Research. "The DISCOVER centers will help to define the role of environmental agents in the initiation and progression of human disease and develop new ways to both prevent and treat disease,"