Monday, December 26, 2011

FishbowlDC: Best of the Worst

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Monday, December 26, 2011

This week we received a boatload of crap reaction to Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Rear end, Wis.) discussing what he calls first lady Michelle Obama's "large posterior" or "big butt". He used both phrases, each in different settings. Ironically he used "large posterior" while talking loudly on his cell phone in a lounge at Reagan National Airport. He said "big butt" at a church bazaar to elderly people. What can we say,... read more>>

Fish Food

(A Sprinkling of Things We Think You Ought to Know...) Herman Cain won't be talking with "Politico.com" anytime soon -- The Daily Caller's Alex Pappas got a one-on-one with the conductor of the Cain Train (wreck) himself, Herman Cain. Though Cain terminated suspended his presidential campaign in early December, he continues to talk a big game. He says if he were still campaigning he would "absolutely" be the front runner going into... read more>>

The FishbowlDC Interview With WaPo's Annie Gowen

Say hello to WaPo's poverty and wealth reporter Annie Gowen. A few things to note about her: She's a Bachelor junkie, as in the reality show starting back up again on Jan. 3. In addition, she's got a screenplay about a cancer survivor that's currently being shopped around Hollywood. It isn't easy getting Annie to meet a FishbowlDC deadline -- a little sharpness (on our part, not hers) shifted her into... read more>>

A Little Birdy Tells Us...

That Politico's Editor-in-Chief John Harris was spotted dining in Georgetown on Monday with CNN "Reliable Sources" host and Daily Beast/Newsweek Washington Bureau Chief Howard Kurtz. The tipster wrote, "Howie Kurtz and JHarris deep in conversation over lunch together in Georgetown on Monday. This can't be good." Sources we spoke with say it's unlikely that Politico is considering hiring Kurtz, but rather, they're Washington oldies former coworkers at WaPo who wanted to catch...read more>>

Meghan McCain - The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Meghan McCain's blog is one of those rare websites like textsfromlastnight.com or the DailyKos where you come away feeling dumber having read it. Yesterday's post entitled "My Beauty Essentials" hurts the head more than usual. The MSNBC Contributor, Daily Beast columnist and child of privilege decided the world needed to know her beauty secrets. No problem with that, really. It's her blog, she can write about whatever floats her boat. The problem is... read more>>

AnonymASS Tipster of the Week

"Hey assholes! Your website is a minefield of poorly implemented code. 5 minutes to load waiting for bullshit from mediabistro.com, mediacdn.disqus.com, and all the other snoopware and tracking apps, then your flash plug-in crashes. Locked up every tab in my (current) Firefox browser. What is this, some kind of ambush?" Note to AnonymASS: You get points for making us laugh. But we assure you, the delays aren't typical. Sh-t happens.... read more>>

Stalker Alert!

This basement-dwelling fanboy does not like our posts about conservative activist and videographer Michelle Fields of The Daily Caller. No need to rehash what the posts said here, but the saga seems to have struck a nerve with people associated with all sorts of websites, the latest being the one he pimps in this "momma's basement" video. He claims he's "freshly showered". We have our doubts. He's never met Michelle "J-Dot" Fields,... read more>>

Morning Chatter

Quotes of the Day Alert the proper authorities... "Just became That Journalist who takes swigs of Pepto-Bismol at their desk." -- WaPo Express's Sara Schwartz. There are stupid questions "Is this a stupid question?" -- Center for Public Integrity's iWatch reporter Corbin Hiar in reaction to this: RT @HuffingtonPost Is Hitler's book 'the perfect present'? Read here. (Corbin was previously an editor at HuffPost.) In case anyone was panicking... "Guys, Louis C.K. is hosting the Radio &... read more>>

WaPo In Search of Pats on Back

WaPo has gone fishing-- for compliments. The paper is asking readers "to vote on your favorite" original Post content in not one, not two, but six separate categories in a new survey. Actually it's seven categories; "graphics" and "motion graphics" have conveniently been separated so they can get an extra compliment. We only have one favorite and it's under the "social and engagement" category: squirrel week. Wait, nevermind! That link doesn't work. Tricked us!... read more>>

Another Day, Another Lunatic Hopeful

Campaign season has a way of bringing society's crazies to light. Yesterday it was Fred Karger, lunatic candidate for President who hates him some Mormons, today it's Terry Jones, lunatic candidate for President who hates him some sanity. Jones, clearly a mustache enthusiast, is also the moron who felt the need to burn a Koran to point out the dangers of radical Islam rather than, you know, simply talking about them, is... read more>>

Sensenbrenner Apologizes

Politico is reporting within the hour that Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Rump, Wisc.) has sent a note of apology to first lady Michelle Obama for remarking on her "large posterior." An excerpt: On Thursday, Sensenbrenner said in a statement, "I regret my inappropriate comment and I have sent a personal note to the first lady apologizing." Riiiight. He regrets his remark since all of yesterday, when he said he stands by his remarks. Which is... read more>>

Can't Buy Me (Reggie) Love

President Obama's "body man" Reggie Love, who recently left the White House for graduate school, wants you to have dinner with the First Family. Well, not really. What Reggie really wants is for you to donate money to the President's reelection campaign to be entered into a drawing for a chance to win dinner with the Obamas. At least this chance will only cost you $3 and not the $38,500 is... read more>>

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Ronald Kessler - Newsmax.com: FBI and CIA Deserve Our Thanks as Much as Military

FBI and CIA Deserve Our Thanks as Much as Military

Wednesday, November 23, 2011 11:48 AM http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2011/12/ronald-kessler-newsmaxcom-fbi-and-cia.html

Labels: Anti-terrorism, CIA, CIA qv Military Natl Security Intel, FBI, Law Order, Military Global War on Terror, Military Natl Security Intel CIA, US Govt Fed FBI

By: Ronald Kessler - Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. He is a New York Times best-selling author of books on the Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. His latest, "The Secrets of the FBI," has just been published. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via email. Go Here Now.

http://www.newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/FBI-CIA-safe-terrorism/2011/11/23/id/418996

Because of the terrorist threat, the FBI and CIA have become as important as the military in preserving our freedom. Yet while thanking our military is standard practice in American life, no one thinks of thanking the FBI, the CIA, or the rest of the intelligence community for keeping us safe since 9/11.

Instead, the media and many on the extreme left and extreme right demonize the men and women of those agencies for allegedly “spying on innocent Americans.”

Last year, two Washington Post reporters took two years to uncover this story: The intelligence community is big and secret and uses a lot of contractors. Presented as an exposé, the series, “Top Secret America,” found no abuse. Instead, it presented the conclusion that the intelligence community is a “hidden world” that is “growing beyond control.”

A front-page subhead read: “The government has built a national security and intelligence system so big, so complex and so hard to manage, no one really knows if it’s fulfilling its most important purpose: keeping citizens safe.”

In fact, the intelligence community has kept us safe since 9/11. But Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, who wrote the series, never mentioned that fact. If they had, the Washington Post series could not have run: It would have been exposed as bogus…http://www.newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/FBI-CIA-safe-terrorism/2011/11/23/id/418996

[…]

Most people do not draw a connection between these efforts by the intelligence community and the fact that there has not been a successful attack since 9/11. Rather, FBI agents are portrayed in the media as having nothing better to do than probe the library reading habits of innocent grandmothers. If FBI agents can’t be trusted to wiretap within the law, why trust them to carry weapons or make arrests?

Despite constant vilifying by the media and congressional threats to take away the tools needed to uncover plots, FBI agents and CIA officers work silently around the clock and risk their own lives to keep us safe. Most could be making far more money in the private sector.

Out of love of country, they continue on the job, making sure we do not again witness Americans hurling themselves out of the windows of skyscrapers to escape an inferno or children holding up photos of their parents, hoping they survived a horrific attack.

Let’s give thanks to these patriots who have successfully protected us, our families, and our friends for more than 10 years… http://www.newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/FBI-CIA-safe-terrorism/2011/11/23/id/418996

Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. He is a New York Times best-selling author of books on the Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. His latest, "The Secrets of the FBI," has just been published. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via email. Go Here Now.

Just Published: The Secrets of the FBI

www.RonaldKessler.com

Snow adds to fun using Christmas presents, Alaska texting law challenged in court, and other stories from the Anchorage Daily News

PHOTOS: BEST OF DECEMBER

Aubrey LeClair, 11, pushes her new kicksled at Westchester Lagoon on Christmas Day. Santa Claus brought it last night, said her mother, Claire LeClair, as she walked with their dog Bandit.

Snow adds to fun using Christmas presents

A little bit of snow that fell Christmas Day wasn't enough to stop youngsters from trying out their presents even though some of them had to shovel their own ice rink on Westchester Lagoon. The snow, in fact, helped Aubrey LeClair test her new kick sled.

Photos: Christmas 2011

Photos: Christmas at the Reindeer Farm

Submit your Christmas 2011 photos

life

Some upcoming local art gifts we would hope to find this morning
'tis the first day of Christmas and here I stand, gawking at promising packs poking out of my stocking.

opinion

Association's stand against Pebble is fishy
Recently, the Pacific Seafood Processors Association weighed in on the Pebble project. The hypocrisy of this action motivates me to put pen to paper.

outdoors

Dog show is no place for mushers

Outdoors hotline (12/20/11)

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

John Henrehan - FoxDC: Firefighters Ignore The Rules, Save Girl

Firefighters Ignore The Rules, Save Girl

Thursday, 22 Dec 2011

John Henrehan
john.henrehan@foxtv.com

BY JOHN HENREHAN/ myfoxdc http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/firefighters-ignore-the-rules-save-girl-122211#.TvPQufr4QLI.facebook

CLINTON, Md. - Three firefighters based in Clinton, Md. had to bend way down, today, to get hugs from a five-year-old girl. Christina Luckett also handed each a framed 'thank you' note with her photograph and about 20 signatures from her family members.

November 21st was a bad day for Christina. She suffers from asthma, and her breathing was so labored, that evening, that her grandmother called 911.

It is standard operating procedure in Prince George's County, Maryland, and elsewhere, to dispatch both a fire truck and an ambulance. The pumper trucks usually arrive first, since there are many more of them than ambulances. All three firefighters aboard the pumper had received certification of some kind in life-saving skills, although the first aid kit on a fire truck has only minimal equipment.

A recording of the initial 911 call shows how serious the situation was. The dispatcher asked the girl's grandmother, Aleighta Hughes, "IS SHE BREATHING?" Hughes paused before answering, "She's having a hard time. She's struggling."

Moments after the firefighters arrived, Christina went completely limp and stopped breathing altogether.

In this kind of situation, firefighters are trained to perform CPR, but await the arrival of an ambulance...

John Henrehan - FoxDC: Firefighters Ignore The Rules, Save Girl

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Ron Smith, the “Voice of Reason” on WBAL radio, dead at 70

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2011/12/ron-smith-voice-of-reason-on-wbal-radio.html

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2011/12/kevin-dayhoff-ron-smith-voice-of-reason.html

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4813

See also on www.thetentacle.com [http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41]: December 21, 2011

“The Voice of Reason” Silenced by Kevin E. Dayhoff -

On Monday night, the venerable longstanding, highly rated, and critically acclaimed 1090 AM WBAL talk radio host, Ron Smith, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Shrewsbury, PA… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4813

Labels: Dayhoff writing essays, Dayhoff writing essays people, History, Journalists Smith Ron, People Tributes

By Kevin Dayhoff,

December 21, 2011

Ron Smith, 70,the highly celebrated radio talk show host on 1090 AM WBAL talk radio for 26 years, died of pancreatic cancer last Monday night at his home in Shrewsbury, Pa.

Generations of Carroll countians have grown-up listening to Smith – and 1090 WBAL radio, long before he joined the station in the fall of 1984.

David Zurawik, The Baltimore Sun’s media critic since 1989, noted late Monday night that “Mr. Smith spent more than 26 years on WBAL's airwaves, most of it in the afternoon drive-time period until a move to mornings last year, passionately talking politics from a conservative point of view.”

Zurawik explains the ‘Voice of Reason’ title came from a listener, according to Smith’s wife, June; “A caller, responding to one of Ron’s rants on the constant struggle between various theories and the hard, cold, facts of reality, said, ‘You are The Voice of Reason.’ ” The term stuck.

Zurawik wrote the thoughts of many. “But it is not his politics for which he will likely be remembered as much as the informed conversation he helped create on Baltimore radio — and the way he publicly shared his final days with listeners of WBAL and readers of The Baltimore Sun.”

Smith was born in 1941 in upstate New York, the son of an assistant school superintendent, according to Zurawik, who helped fill us in on Smith’s early years before his legendary success in Baltimore… http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2011/12/ron-smith-voice-of-reason-on-wbal-radio.html or http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2011/12/kevin-dayhoff-ron-smith-voice-of-reason.html or http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4813

Although he is reported to have been well-read and highly educated, many will be surprised to know that Smith “dropped out of high school at age 17 and joined the Marines,” according to Zurawik. “He was in the Marines from 1959 to 1962, his last duty serving at a Navy submarine base in New London, Conn…

“After the Marines, Mr. Smith started working in community theater in Albany, N.Y., near his hometown of Troy, while he ‘tried to figure out’ what he wanted to do…

“Mr. Smith's first broadcasting job was as a disc jockey in Haverhill, MA. He didn't like the station, but he liked being on the air. He returned to Albany and eventually landed a radio and TV reporting job at WTEN. He was at that station five years…”

Before his longstanding stint with WBAL radio, Carroll countians first got to know Smith when he first arrived in Baltimore on TV – on Channel 11’s “Action News,” in 1973. He was on the air as a reporter and then its weekend anchor until 1980, when “he was unceremoniously dumped in an anchor desk shuffle…,” according to Zurawik.

According to his official biography, “Ron was a TV anchor and reporter for WBAL-TV until 1980, when new management decided to make a change in his department by getting rid of him.

“They parted by ‘mutual consent,’ which is when your bosses decided you’ve got to go and you agree there’s nothing much you can do about it.”

In 1980 “Mr. Smith went to work full time as a stockbroker,” explained The Baltimore Sun article. “But he never lost the desire to be on air. And while he claimed to enjoy working in the financial world, it was all prelude for the passion he found as a talk-show host starting part-time in 1984 and full time a year later on WBAL radio...”

The rest is history… However, the history of WBAL and Carroll County can arguably go back as far as when it first went on the air in 1925. It was started as a subsidiary of the old Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company, now known as Baltimore Gas Electric – Constellation Energy.

That was eight years before The Consolidated Public Utilities Company of Westminster merged with the Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company, in 1933. The Westminster power company can trace its roots back to 1867, when it first formed as the Westminster Gas Light Co.

One of the first mentions of WBAL radio in Carroll County is brought to our attention as a result of research by the Historical Society of Carroll County. On June 8, 1945, the now out-of-print Westminster newspaper, the Democratic Advocate reported, “Sykesville high school students will broadcast over station WBAL, Baltimore, on Saturday, June 9, at 4 p.m. The skit which they will dramatize is called ‘After the War —then What?’”

The same newspaper reported on February 1, 1946, “The Baltimore Radio Broadcasting Station, WBAL, will bring the well known program "Junior Town Meeting of the Air" to Westminster in a broadcast at Westminster High School on Tuesday, February 5th, from 1:30 to 2 p.m. The subject to be discussed will be "Is American Family Life Deteriorating"? Local students will present their views direct from the school to your home.”

On February 8, 1947, the newspaper reported, “Westminster and the surrounding community was very much interested in the Junior Town Meeting broadcasted over Station WBAL on Tuesday afternoon… In summing up the half-hour discussion, Mr. (Mike) Eaton said that he felt the main point had been brought out by Thomas Holmes, Jr., when he said, ‘These things we have said put forth a challenge, a challenge to us; the teen agers of today, who will in the near future have families of their own, and also should strive to rebuild and protect our American Family Life.’ ”

Several decades later, Smith brought back the conversation about protecting “our American Family Life,” to the radio in our homes, offices, and automobiles.

Zurawik noted in the Baltimore Sun, “According to Ed Kiernan, longtime general manager of WBAL, ‘a voracious reader, Ron Smith arrived at his opinions after careful thought and research. He arrived early to work always prepared and excited to get behind the microphone.’ ”

Smith, “died at his home … surrounded by his wife, June, and the rest of his family,” according to a report by WBAL-TV. “Funeral services will be private. A public memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.”

Smith’s passing leaves a lot of “dead air” in an intelligent, uncomplicated, “everyman” approach to the news and events of the day. He will be missed. Semper Fi.

*****

Carroll Eagle Pictures of the Year - baltimoresun.com

The staff of the Carroll Eagle shares some on their favorite pictures from a wide variety of events in the community from the 2011 calendar year. ... http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/ph-ce-poy11-pg,0,2091454.photogallery

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Five Holiday Sites Worth Checking Out and more from Westminster Patch

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TODAY'S DEAL $15 for 3 One Year Magazine Subscriptions ($75 value)232 Madison Avenue New York,, New York 10017 | 201-338-4727

December 25, 2011

Your News

December 25, 2011

Five Holiday Sites Worth Checking Out

Kym Byrnes | Dec 25, 2011 | 0 Comments

Patch found five fun and interesting holiday-themed websites.

Holiday Traditions New and Old, Real and Fake

Brian Hooks | Dec 25, 2011 | 0 Comments

Take a look at some of the most popular winter holidays, and some of the newer traditions they have spawned.

Ravens React After Christmas Eve Win

Alexander Pyles | Dec 25, 2011 | 0 Comments

The Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns, 20-14, on Christmas Eve to move to 11-4 and stay on track to win the AFC North.

See more News »

Community Bulletin

December 25, 2011

Local Connections

Share Your Christmas Morning Photos!

Kym Byrnes | Dec 24, 2011

Share your Christmas morning happy faces! Know your wife is going to freak out when she opens her gift? Take a photo! Pretty sure …

Social Services

Westminster Elementary Students Donate Blankets

Kym Byrnes | Dec 23, 2011

Wow…what a great feeling of giving and helping that is in the air here at Westminster Elementary School. Our fourth and fifth grade …

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Fort Worth Star Telegram: The Watchdog: Water meter reading turns into flood of errors

By Dave Lieberwatchdog@star-telegram.com

Stephen Geis checked his bank account online and found an unexpected overdraft of $19,000 from his account.

Minutes later, his wife called and told him their monthly Fort Worth water bill had arrived in the mail totaling $19,000.

What happened? Error upon error upon error.

His actual water use for the month totaled a measly $22. But he wouldn't learn that until The Watchdog investigated. Geis also never learned the cause of the problem until I told him later.

Water Department staffers later tried to explain it to him, but the words they used were so confusing that it made no sense. Geis had been billed for 3.6 million gallons of water his family had supposedly used in one month. That's enough to fill more than five Olympic-size swimming pools. Put another way, his bill was about 863 times higher than it should have been.

Fortunately for Geis,… Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/12/24/3617366/the-watchdog-water-meter-reading.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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Happy Holidays from the Obama Family

Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011

Happy Holidays from the Obama Family

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama recorded a special video to wish the American people a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Check it out:

The holidays are the perfect time to give thanks to our men and women in uniform and the families who support them. You can join the President and First Lady in thanking our troops, military families and veterans for their service and sacrifice by visiting JoiningForces.gov.
Happy Holidays!

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