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History: “I’m Not a Crook”
Watergate at 41 This is the week 41 years ago when the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach then president Richard Nixon on a charge of obstruction of justice. Republican operatives planned and...
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The Apocalypse and John Houser
Hitler and Westboro Baptist Tea Party supporter and Hitler-admirer John Houser killed two and wounded nine more in a shooting rampage in Lafayette, LA, this week. News sources report that Houser...
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Pollard the “Kook”
Timing is Everything Pollard Dare I say it, but I easily recall when J.J. Pollard was busted for selling US secrets to the Israelis in 1985. He pled guilty in 1987 and received a life sentence,...
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Three’s a Party: A Very Lusty Lord
“I Want to be Led Astray” House of Lords We Americans have an imperfect and overly proper view of Brits perhaps influenced by their wonderful way of speaking and all that royal pomp. After all, how...
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DCFD: Incompetence Writ Large
Technology as Cover-up The Washington Post reports that the city released a scathing review this week on the choking death of a 13-month old infant after the closest unit failed to respond. Thanks to...
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DCFD: “Show the Kind of Commitment”
Train Wreck First, a correction. I wrote yesterday, “Engine 20 was apparently dispatched after all, then cancelled and failed to take in the incident even when they knew they were closer.” I was...
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Iran and “The Deal”
A Coming Together Iran President Hassan Rouhani The US, Russia, China, Great Britain, France and Germany (P5+1) have agreed on a framework with Iran to prevent their development of fissile nuclear...
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Battlefield in Repose
Antietam Sublime A road trip yesterday to gather up my young cousin for a visit included a return to Antietam battlefield located south of Hagerstown, Maryland, and just north of Harpers Ferry, West...
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Multiple IAFF Corruption Investigations?
Shining a Bright Light in a Very Dark Place Harold Schaitberger Word is emerging this week that a major US newspaper is conducting a thorough investigation into the finances at the IAFF, among other...
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IAFF Corruption: The Nixon Playbook
Bring in the Plumbers Harold Schaitberger IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger has apparently concluded that incriminating information, perhaps in the form of documents, is leaking from the IAFF....
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IAFF: If the Corruption Crisis Were a Working Fire
The DVPs and staff would be the engine crew and Harold would be the (not so) steadfast incident commander. You see, it’s his first real fire and the team pulled a booster line when a 2 1/2 is called...
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IAFF Corruption: On Motivation
A Force for Change How many people outside the IAFF, longtime members, have spoken up about the corruption they witness in Washington? At least six and almost certainly more. While not in a position to...
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Health: Flying Too Close to the Flame?
Who We Are, Really Peter Wollheim Peter Wollheim, a Boise, Idaho based licensed professional mental health counselor and nationally known suicide prevention advocate committed suicide last month. His...
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Road Trip: London
Wembley, Actually I grew up eating those white and black packages of cheese and powdered milk marked “USDA Government Surplus”, a 1960’s form of food stamps, which may in part explain my perpetual...
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London (D2): Right Posh
Things Must Be Slow Bookings must be way down if even I got a suite at the Hilton. Trust me, not complaining here. It’s a great hotel located about a ten-minute walk from the Wembley Park Tube station...
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London (D3): Soane’s, Surgery, Dr. Sam and a Look at the Thames
John Soane, Architect My friend David Barbour suggested I see the home of John Soane, a 19th-century architect who lived in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Soane collected Roman antiquities partly as teaching...
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London: Kumar’s Cup of Coffee
Tale of the Idiot American First, a weather report, especially for my east coast friends: 65 degrees with the sun in and out of the clouds, just cool enough to need a light jacket. Sorry, I had to do...
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London Fire Brigade (LFB): This and That
Greater London Greater London is about 600 square miles with an estimated 2015 population of 8,630,000. As perspective, New York City has essentially the same population in roughly half the area. The...
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IAFF Corruption: Our Most (un) Union-Like Leaders
Is There a Spine in the House? The IAFF Executive Board has hired a company to spy on email and other communications of our union’s staff and (presumably) elected officials to find the “rat” as Harold...
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IAFF Ethics: Edzo, The Movie
And, ACTION Credit: Edzo Facebook Scene one takes us through the meteoric and apparently pre-ordained ascension of “Edzo” from embryo to the Jupiter of Jakes. He is fairly begotten, not made; a...
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