Unenthusiastic about the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal for five-day-a-week mail service? Consider the possibility of every-other-day delivery. That’s today’s deep thought, courtesy of the USPS’ inspector general’s blog. We won’t even begin to list the politically influential groups that would pounce on the idea if the Postal Service sought to pursue it, but for the sake of argument, here goes: As the IG notes, a study earlier this year predicted that the average amount of daily mail per “delivery point” will fall from 3.8 pieces to 2.8 pieces by 2020. If that prediction holds good, then more households will receive…
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Late-night comedy hosts/faux newsmen Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert last evening unveiled their plans to hold a “Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive.” The event, to be held Oct. 30 on the National Mall, is partly a parody of the “Restoring Honor” rally Glenn Beck held in August. But Stewart is only half-joking when he calls for a million-moderate march to find solutions to the problems our nation faces, without demonizing those who may disagree with us. Or in his words, “take it down a notch for America.” As his announcement made clear, shrill hysteria has become a…
Well, that didn’t take long. Less than 24 hours after holding a hearing on the candidacy of Jacob “Jack” Lew to become the next Office of Management and Budget director, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has set next Tuesday for a confirmation vote on sending his nomination to the full Senate, according to a just-released notice. Lew’s nomination also needs the blessing of the Senate Budget Committee, but no word yet on when that vote will be.
After more than eight years on the job, Kenneth Donohue is stepping down Oct. 1 as inspector general for the Housing and Urban Development Department for a position with the Reznick Group, P.C., a national accounting firm, according to news releases from his office and the company. Donohue will be a principal in Reznick’s government services group, where he will focus on compliance, internal controls and other matters for the company’s federal, state and local clients. A former Secret Service special agent appointed by then-President George W. Bush, Donohue has served as inspector general since March 2002. Among other milestones…
Printing government budgets year after year may have gotten a little stale for the Government Printing Office, so they’ve decided to spice things up a bit. GPO today announced the publication of its first comic book, “Squeaks Discovers Type!” In the comic, the titular hero traces the history of printing, from cuneiform, to medieval illuminated manuscripts, to Gutenberg’s printing press, to the Internet age. (You can read a few sample pages here.) The whole thing was handled in house — GPO promotions manager Jim Cameron wrote the story, graphic designer Nick Crawford illustrated and colored it, and the agency printed…
Stephen Colbert welcomed troops returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom to his show last night, with plenty of surprises — beer, pretty girls, Joe Biden serving hot dogs, Yogi Berra, and a toilet fit for Saddam. Check out the video below, and others after the jump: [HTML1]
Despite an ugly financial backdrop, the U.S. Postal Service kicked off talks this afternoon on a new contract with the largest of its four unions with an official note of optimism. “We have worked successfully with our unions in the past to help transform the Postal Service and we hope to maintain this momentum during these negotiations,” said Anthony Vegliante, USPS’s chief human resources officer, in a news release marking the start of negotiations with the American Postal Workers Union, which represents some 211.000 clerks, mechanics, custodians and other workers. That chin-up attitude was matched in a separate statement by…
Who’s worried about the impact of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ proposed Pentagon belt-tightening? Not, apparently, CACI International, Inc., the Arlington Va.,-based defense contractor that has a stake in some of the programs and offices to be axed. In a recent statement on CACI’s 4th quarter and full fiscal year 2010 results, President and CEO Paul Cofoni said the company expects only “negligible impact” from Gates’ decision to eliminate Joint Forces Command, the Office for Network and Information Integration and the J-6. CACI has also been informed, he added, “that the work we do for the Business Transformation Agency will continue…
If all 16,000+ participants follow through with their pledge tonight, Power IT Down Day 2010 should be a huge success. The initiative has nearly 500 supporters on Facebook, more than 100 Twitter followers and thousands who have signed up directly on the site. The nationwide event encourages government and the private sector to shut down their computers, printers, monitors and other devices at the end of the work day to save energy. I was told that about two-thirds of those who have registered are from government agencies. Citrix, HP, Intel and GTSI are sponsoring the initiative and will make a…
The Associated Press reports that Germany is considering a law that aims to prohibit potential employers from looking at job seekers’ Facebook pages or other private postings. The proposed law would make it illegal for someone to “friend” an applicant to check out their photos and other private details. The AP says that “a rejected job applicant who proves he or she was turned down based on violation of the new law could take the company to court and claim damages.” But even German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who presented the draft law, acknowledged that enforcement might be tough.…