The President’s Spending Plan

On Wednesday, Stan Collender, author of the popular “Fiscal Fitness” column for Roll Call, and partner at Qorvis Communications, gave AABPA members his thoughts on the President’s budget summary released last week. Stan pointed out that the summary is not a document for budget geeks and beltway insiders hoping for data to scrutinize and pickRead… Read more »

Role of cloud computing, web 2.0, and web 3.0 semantic technologies in an era of transparent, collaborative, connected governance?

Brand Niemann (EPA) and I recently organized a a one-day conference / workshop held in Washington, DC on February 17, 2009 on the role of information and communication technologies in an era of connected governance. This wiki page contains the program and all proceedings including presentations, videos, and handouts from the event: From E-Gov toRead… Read more »

Finally on Twitter

I first heard about Twitter through a friend of my wife several months ago and thought it was stupid. I’m a technically savvy guy, but I just didn’t see the need to post my every move for all of my “followers” to see and I really don’t care to get an update each time oneRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Report Details Fraud and Abuse at TVA

A two-year review by the inspector general’s office at the Tennessee Valley Authority finds that staffers made millions of dollars of questionable purchases on credit cards provided by the government-backed corporation. Staffers spent more than $360,000 over two years on electronic items including X-Boxes and TiVos for an employee awards program and made questionable purchasesRead… Read more »

Employee Performance Evaluations

I recently read the following, and thought I would share a little humor… Enjoy! ——————————————————————————– Quotes taken from actual (U.S.) Federal Employee Performance Evaluations ——————————————————————————– 1. “Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.” 2. “I would not allow this employee to breed.” 3. “This employee is notRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: USDA Contractor Disputes Charge of Political Favoritism

The man singled out during Wednesday’s White House press briefing as the beneficiary of a now-terminated contract with the Agriculture Department today disputed any suggestion that he was awarded the contract because of connections to the Bush administration, and cited his decades-long career as an agricultural economist as the main reason he earned a six-figureRead… Read more »

If anyone here is going to FOSE 2009, please consider donating any old (Verizon) cell phone(s) to HopeLine

FOSE 2009, GovSec 2009 and U.S. Law 2009 have partnered with Verizon Wireless to support HopeLine®. HopeLine® phones are provided to participating domestic violence agencies and organizations nationwide for use by victims and survivors as they rebuild their lives. While at FOSE, GovSec, U.S. Law and Ready, please remember to bring your old phone* andRead… Read more »

Hot water

It is always something. Yesterday, I noticed a draft coming up from the basement so I went down to check. I found water across the basement floor, originating with our hot water heater. A call to the plumber had him at our house by 8:30 a.m. and out the door by 12:30 p.m. He installedRead… Read more »