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!
June 24th, 2009
“We’ve heard how the stealthy F-22 and F-35 are flying thermos bottles, struggling under the huge heat loads imposed by their powerful engines and systems. Well it seems the latest generation of vertical-lift aircraft is turning the flight decks of US Navy amphibious assault ships into frying pans.”
– Ares
“In the last administration, the hack-to-wonk ratio was dangerously high. In this one, wonks have the upper hand.”
– Democratic Leadership Council CEO Bruce Reed, on the makeup of the Obama administration
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!
June 8th, 2009
“A good IG allows an administrator to sleep at night, and I don’t want to diminish that role in any way.”
– GSA Administrator-designate Martha Johnson, on the relationship she hopes to build with IG Brian Miller
“In an effort to improve the system, we have made it almost unintelligibly complex.”
– Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, recommending simplification of the Pentagon’s contracting rules and processes.
June 3rd, 2009
“When budgets go up like they did, we lose our ability to prioritize. We lose our budget discipline. We lose our analytical capability. We don’t have to do the analysis. And those things are things we should be doing whether budgets are going up or coming down.”
– Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in response to the idea that budget concerns are driving planning decisions
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. 
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
April 22nd, 2009
The POGO gang had a great time at the sixth annual Ridenhour Prizes, held last week at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The Prizes are awarded to “recognize those who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society.”
After a moving video tribute to Ron Ridenhour, and a heartfelt speech by Randy Fertel describing Mr. Ridenhour’s work, the Prizes were handed out to this year’s recipients.
Thomas Tamm received the Truth-Telling Prize for courageously blowing the whistle on the NSA’s illegal wiretapping program. Jane Mayer received the Book Prize for The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into A War on American Ideals, a chilling account of the government’s anti-terrorism policies following 9/11. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert received the Courage Prize for bringing “moral clarity and a sense of outrage to his ongoing depiction of injustice.” And a special Ridenhour Prize for Reportorial Distinction was awarded to Nick Turse for his “investigative reportage on the systemic atrocities of the Vietnam War.”
We applaud this year’s recipients for their courage and dedication, and we extend our gratitude to whistleblowers and journalists everywhere who work tirelessly to expose the truth.
Click below to see our pictures from the event (please wait a few seconds for the pictures to load):
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
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!
