michael July 23rd, 2009
We had a great turnout at last week’s panel on “Congress vs. the President: The Scope and Limits of Congressional Oversight Powers,” which featured the release of POGO’s new congressional oversight handbook, The Art of Congressional Oversight: A User’s Guide to Doing It Right.
Click below to see more pictures from the event (please wait a moment for the pictures to load):
michael July 7th, 2009
Ed Rothschild, a friend of the show here at POGO, has asked us to spread the word about the publication of a new book, The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, co-authored by his college roommate Ron Soodalter and Kevin Bales, president of the globally renowned anti-slavery organization Free the Slaves. Here’s Ed’s description of the book:
“This is the first book to address and fully document the broad spectrum of modern-day slavery as it specifically pertains to the United States and provides a combination of case studies, interviews with government officials, service providers, victim advocates, survivors of trafficking, and in some cases, the actual traffickers. The authors not only evaluate what is - and isn’t - being done on the local, state and federal levels, to combat this blight that sees many thousands enslaved within our borders each year, but also suggest what the average citizen can do to help in the fight.”
For those in the D.C. area, Ron and Kevin will be speaking about the book at Politics and Prose (5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW) at 6:00 P.M. on Saturday, July 11.
Hope to see you there!
michael June 24th, 2009
We had a great turnout at the first Muckrakers’ Happy Hour, where reporters, NGO do-gooders, IG staff, and Hill staffers from both sides of the aisle shared a few drinks and exchanged thoughts on their latest investigations.
It’s time for the second Happy Hour, and we hope you can join us. We’ll meet at Johnny’s Half Shell (400 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, D.C.) on Wednesday, July 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M.
No need to RSVP–just mention at the door that you’re there for the Muckrakers’ Happy Hour, and somebody will point you in the right direction. Appetizers will be provided, and you can take advantage of Happy Hour drink prices.
Please forward this invitation to your colleagues, your own lists, or to anybody who you think might be interested in hanging out.
Hope to see you on Wednesday!
michael June 8th, 2009
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place where reporters, NGO do-gooders, and Hill staffers from both sides of the aisle could go once a month to meet each other, share a few drinks, and exchange tips on their latest investigations?
In an effort to make government oversight a little more collaborative (and fun!), POGO is organizing a new Muckrakers Happy Hour. We hope you can join us to kick things off on Wednesday, June 10 from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M. at Johnny’s Half Shell (400 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, D.C.).
No need to RSVP–just mention at the door that you’re there for the Muckrakers Happy Hour, and somebody will point you in the right direction. Appetizers will be provided, and you can take advantage of Happy Hour drink prices.
Depending on this week’s turnout, we’ll see if we should make this our regular monthly spot. Stay tuned for details.
Please forward this invitation to your colleagues, your own lists, or to anybody who you think might be interested in hanging out.
Hope to see you on Wednesday!
michael May 29th, 2009
Anyone who’s visited POGO’s office recently might have noticed that our building address changed from 666 11th Street to 1100 G Street. Yesterday’s Washington Examiner asked the question: “…are they hoping that a new address will attract more tenants that may have been turned off by having to design their company’s stationary and sign their work e-mails with the ‘number of the beast’?”
We always liked it because it was unique. 
michael May 15th, 2009
As I’ve said before, one of the great things about working at POGO is that great interns come into our lives for a couple of months. Then they leave us, but most of them stay in touch. Some former POGO interns contact us to let us know that they just got a great job or got married, or in this case, that they graduated from a college that none of us have ever heard of before.
It will probably be many years before we are graced with an intern who is more fun and has a bigger smile than Jessie Pittrizzi. And often, where you graduate from college doesn’t really matter, so if it’s an imaginary place in Jessie’s mind, that’s cool. (She clearly went to a lot of effort to make up the accompanying announcement.)
– Keith Rutter
michael April 1st, 2009
Frances Reed has been a Friend of POGO’s for years. If you ever want somebody to have a shot of tequila and a great conversation with, she’s your girl…well, she’s in the Smithie Mafia, so she’s your…woman? (If you buy into socially constructed gender binaries.) So when I found out about her art show I just had to give it a quick plug:
Mosaic Art by Frances Reed
April 2 through April 30
Opening Reception, Sunday April 5, 2009, 3-5pm
Design Studio LLC, Art Gallery
5702 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville MD 20781
(301) 779-4907
www.designstudioartgallery.com
– Keith Rutter
michael March 26th, 2009
My wife and I just recently returned from an exciting month’s travel to and through Bhutan and India. Bhutan is a small but progressive state on India’s northern border. It lies just south of Tibet and the Himalayas. The people are beautiful and welcoming, the mountains are spectacular, the government is caring (choosing to focus upon Gross National Happiness rather than GNP), and life there is serene, guided by the harmonious teachings of Buddhism.
India was a whirlwind of diversity and contradictions, with its emerging economic modernization in constant conflict with the traditions of ancient religions and the political corruption rampant in many third-world societies. While in the north central plains of India, we visited scores of temples, mosques, forts, palaces and monuments…each more wondrous than the last. We visited rural villages and met with the people; we were fortunate to spot of tigress in the wild; we rode a camel and an elephant; and we tasted a broad menu of Indian delights that constantly challenged our western palates. It goes without saying that the Taj Mahal is worthy of being 
considered one the Seven Wonders of the World. Life and death on the River Ganges in the holy city of Varanasi is unique unto itself, while life in cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur (the “pink” city) offers an organized chaos amidst levels of filth and poverty rarely seen in developed nations. In contrast, we were placed in five star hotels that reflected the immense wealth that has existed in India throughout history.
In the South we spent a relaxing few days on a houseboat floating through the back waters of Kerala. On the shores of these waterways we again visited the disparities in wealth that can even be found in small villages. But Kerala distinguished itself from other states in India with high levels of literacy and education that stretch from urban to rural communities, with relatively clean and
organized patterns of mobility, and a communist run government that is less tainted by corruption and more committed to serving the interests of its citizens. We visited a small and dwindling community of Jews in Cochin that dates back to the trade with Judea during the time of King Solomon. Throughout our journey we were fortunate to have some of the most personable and informative guides we have ever traveled with.
– Paul Chassy
Paul Chassy is a retired DOJ employee who has been helping out with our contracting investigations. We greatly appreciate Paul’s contribution to POGO, and we can’t wait to hear more about his travels!
michael March 26th, 2009
Jill Carlson stopped by this morning. She’s back from teaching in Costa Rica for the past year and is in town visiting grad schools. And then Kelli Baldwin called this afternoon to check in. She’s entering a UNC program in the fall to prepare her for med school. Oh, and Caleb Rowe’s life is like Natural Lite. Don’t ask me, I don’t know what that means. Now if I only had an update on Bombadil and the Connecticut prison system.
– Keith Rutter
michael March 13th, 2009
And a glossary for some of the particularly popular tags:
DoD 5000 – One of the most recent revisions to acquisition policy
JCIDS – The Joint Capabilities Integration Development System. Recently described by Senator Claire McCaskill as the group where “all the services getting together and basically giving each other what they want.”
Lessons learned – What it sometimes seems like the government doesn’t do
Probability of program success – The number that’s high as soon as a program’s subcontracts have been distributed, sometimes referred to as worst run department.
– Mandy Smithberger
