The economy might be in the dumps but it’s turning into a stellar year for consumer scams …  and government plans to combat them.

First, this just came in from one of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Yahoo groups: Beware of the telephone shysters posing as sales reps for the FBI. No, silly! Not the real Federal Bureau of Investigation. This one’s an alleged alarm company peddling “freeâ€� security systems. The pitch starts off saying “you live in a high crime statistics area” and offers a free home alarm system in exchange for letting the company put an FBI sign on your lawn. It’s the latest twist in alarm system scams.

AFTER THE JUMP: More on D.C. confidence schemes and Obama’s plans to take down abusive consumer lenders.

Read More “Scam City! Grifters - and Consumer Protection - Are on the Rise, Officials Say” »

The big news in Washington this morning was already shared with City Desk readers early yesterday evening: Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) admitted to having an affair with a campaign staffer.  There’s no word on whether Ensign plans on resigning but he wishes he could take it all back.  Obviously.  He was a member of the Promise Keepers, for Pete’s sake.  There’s a lot to be said about Ensign’s contradictory behavior but at least he came public without the help of the fine journalists at the National Enquirer.

Drug recalls, crime bills, and a double dose of foreign policy after the jump. Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Truth Telling Edition” »

From WeLoveDC’s twitter: “Wow. It’s 11:50, and there are 32 people in line *outside* Rays Hell Burger. Not even noon yet!” Thank you Obama.

It’s been established that wherever Obama goes, the tour buses and locals will follow, temporarily ruining eating for everyone who doesn’t like to wait in long lines for half smokes or gourmet burgers. In the future, Mr. President can you not stop by the following places:

*Pete’s

*The Mount Pleasant 7-11

*Old City

*The Whole Foods (Dupont Circle Logan Circle) sandwich counter.

*Soul Veg

*The CVS at Irving and 14th.

*The Columbia Heights Target on Saturday afternoons.

As first rumored on DCRTV, Brian Mitchell has been let go by sportstalk station WTEM-AM.

That means Mitchell’s now ex-employer was Dan Snyder.

The same guy has fired the same guy before.

In 2000, Snyder’s first offseason of running the Redskins, Mitchell, the team’s all-time punt return and kickoff return leader, was let go.

In Thom Loverro’s 2007 book, Hail Victory: An Oral History of the Washington Redskins, Mitchell insinuated he got run out of town because he was disliked by Snyder’s favorite Redskin, Darrell Green.

That’s sorta interesting again, because the owner’s pet these days, Clinton Portis, got in a big to-do over the airwaves with Mitchell last year over things the host said about his attitude and play.

Portis and Snyder were recently spotted dining together at N9NE Steakhouse in Vegas.

Vegas!

And now Snyder banishes Mitchell again!

Hmmm.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Dan Snyder and Satan” »

JDLand has her own thoughts on the allegedly slow development around Nationals Park (including both Southeast and Southwest sides). She uses the Post’s archives to make the point that the MCI Center didn’t exactly create instant redevelopment. [She doesn't use those same archives to chart all the failed promises city leaders have made concerning Nationals Park; nor does she use those same archives to chart how much money the city has dumped into the project].

Another argument she could have made: The problem with all the civic boosters behind Nationals Park is that they are having to sell one of the ugliest pieces of city real estate. The MCI Center was built in a downtown neighborhood with obvious strengths that Nationals Park does not have. MCI Center had Chinatown, MLK Library and other civic destination spots like say the old DCRA building (ha), the courthouses, and police headquarters. Nationals Park was built in a decimated spot with almost zero charm. Anyway, I posted my two cents on the subject yesterday.

Misadventures in D.C. folds up its blog, blames Twitter and Facebook (like real media people!). They write: “The weird thing, of course, is that blogging now seems… well, so QUAINT. So old-fashioned, this idea of taking the time to construct paragraphs of text, telling a story, fleshing out an idea or thought through the process of writing about it. We’ve been reduced to brief one-sentence status updates (or worse, in the case of Twitter: 140 characters). It’s easier to stay in touch than ever before. Yet our communication becomes more superficial with each sign of ‘progress.’”

Borderstan collects early April crime stats for Borderstan.

And Now, Anacostia gives its blessing to Cherry Blast.

Bureaucrat310 mourns the crowding of Ben’s Chili Bowl now that they’ve spotted tour buses parked outside the D.C. institution. There’s tension between the old men and the tourists:

“I was at Ben’s Chili Bowl last night with an out-of-town friend who wanted to “visit the place where Obama eats.” It was 2am, crowded and loud! I sat at the counter next to an elderly black man and about three or four of his buddies. Yes, an old guy out past 2am! We’d already ordered as a white college-aged man started shouting his order behind me. The man, for some unknown reason, stuck his arm in between me and the elderly black man to rest his hand on the counter. He accidentally brushed against the black man who did not enjoy being touched - a small argument ensued…”

The 42 taps out a thoughtful rundown of area sports teams and events.

The Post reported today that a report by Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has pointed out several obvious flaws with the inauguration. The report: “pointed to insufficient signs, poor coordination among law enforcement agencies and a lack of personnel to keep order and provide information to visitors.” By now everyone who attended the inauguration or who read about the Purple Tunnel of Doom knows the screw-ups. The only thing left of out of the report is a mention of Dionne Warwick’s ball flap.

In the report’s executive summary, under “crowd management,” it does point out a few major gaffes. Crowds were not only huge, they arrived before police officers got to their posts, the report states, adding that ticket holders and non-ticket holders ended up fighting for spots at the same gates. In other areas medium security fencing was either moved or trampled over. The report notes that in the Silver Section, the “snow” fencing had been trampled. In other spots, bike-rack fencing was simply moved.

Read More “Report Cites Obvious Problems With Inauguration” »

DCist notes that the White House has decided to pass out tickets to its Easter Egg Roll online. Why is this news? Oh yeah, people give a shit and used to wait in line like all night for the chance to celebrate Easter on the White House lawn. DCist writes:

“A press release from the White House cited a desire for “more children and families from across the United States (to) have the opportunity to experience this event” as a reason for the ticketing change.”

Does the White House honestly think people will travel from all over the country just to “experience this event?” Who the hell has the money? It looks like those novelty eggs don’t fetch too much on eBay. A George and Laura collectible from 2003 is currently bidding at $16.50. That’s like less than a dinner for two at Applebee’s.

Then again this egg rolling thing has been around a long time. I’m sure half the tickets will end up on Craigslist.

The D.C. Police Department announced a huge list of street closings for President Obama’s address tonight. The department notes that “the Capitol Square will be restricted to authorized pedestrians only beginning at 6 pm.” And then it provides an extensive rundown of what’s off limits.

Read More “Street Closings For Obama’s Address” »

Who knew Leon Harris had a blog? This guy used to fill up the dead air on CNN. He currently provides the gravitas over at WJLA which he has done for some time.  And apparently, he also invokes the common man’s perspective on his blog. Of executive pay limits, he writes under a post called “Unbelievable!”:

“A recurring theme among the execs and their allies has been ‘if you limit their pay, the will take their talent to other companies, and things will only get worse for the bailed-out ones.’ Is that the sorriest blackmail, or is it just me?”

It’s not just you.

Then there’s the blog post about Dionne Warwick.

Read More “Leon Harris Meets Dionne Warwick” »

This morning I did something I rarely do on Twitter. I wrote what was exactly on my mind (which I guess is the point of twitter). I typed out: “Jake Tapper had the best question at the Obama press conference.” I sat there last night watching the Obama press conference like it was event television. I’m a sucker. Tapper was one of the few reporters who asked a question aimed at getting Obama off the talking points. He asked Obama what benchmarks or milestones or measurements his administration and the public could use to see if the stimulus plan was working. In other words, how would we know if the trillion bucks were gonna cough up is money well spent.

It was a great question.

I pretty much have forgotten Obama’s answer. But I remembered the moment as a typical Tapper moment. He’s not your average political correspondent/hack. Since he left CP years ago, I have read and watched Tapper with amazement at his ability to churn out good copy for Salon, and solid pieces for Nightline and his politics blog. So it was just odd to read today the anonymous carping from the press corps about Tapper.

Read More “Jake Tapper Gets The Spotlight” »

I have been trying to figure out Michael Steele for the last week or so. Every since he won the RNC’s top job that has meant more TV chat show appearances where he talks up tax cuts and talks down Obama. He just doesn’t sound that smart. Yesterday, Steele told a Politico reporter that Obama’s stimulus package “is just a wish list from a lot of people who have been on the sidelines for years.. to get a little bling, bling.”

Read More “Michael Steele Is Our New Sarah Palin” »

Tim McDowell, made quasi-famous by our cover story “Rabies R Us,” got wind of the Obamas’ little raccoon problem at the White House and says, repeatedly, he will head on over there and collect the critters, free of charge.

McDowell, owner and operator of AB & BE Animal Bat & Bird Extractors—”Solving Human-Animal Conflicts”—is fired up about the prospects. “Everyone’s eyes are on the White House right now,” he says. “If I had them as a client, what better referral do you need?”

No offense against the National Park Service, which has thus far been unsuccessful in humanely trapping one large ‘coon and several smaller ones. But McDowell says they’re not experts. He is. “How many of these park service employees are inoculated against rabies? You got all those people putting in all the time they got into it. The government’s paying for it, isn’t it? I got the traps, I got the insurance, I got the exposure to rabies…”

“I got this,” he says.

Read More “Raccoons Invade White House, Local Trapper Offers Free Service” »

Shepard Fairey is the guy that made that now-ubiquitous Obama poster. The guy has certainly got his 15 minutes of fame leading up to the inauguration and, well, throughout the week. Fairey has been critiqued as a hack and an opportunist. And a guy who likes his 15 minutes of fame. The guy has done Charlie Rose’s show. Glad I missed that one. But I dig his art.

Now the bad stuff, the really bad stuff. The AP is going after him for using its photo of Obama in his poster:

“The image, Fairey has acknowledged, is based on an Associated Press photograph, taken in April 2006 by Manny Garcia on assignment for the AP at the National Press Club in Washington.

The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees.

‘The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission,’ the AP’s director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement.”

And there’s been a new critique making the rounds. The critique is that he’s a plagiarist. Artist Mark Vallen lobbed the missive a while ago. But it’s starting to pop up now.

Read More “Is Shepard Fairey A Plagiarist?” »

Just another case-in-point attesting to why the official probe is Washington’s biggest industry. In the aftermath of the inauguration, the Washington Post gave air to complaints from high-flying Obama donors that they weren’t frisked extensively enough before being allowed into sensitive areas. If ever there was a more pointed affirmation of a charmed life–complaining about not enough security!

Now a congressman is pushing for an audit of security, on the following basis: “In the interest of ensuring the integrity of Secret Service protective operations, and the security of our nation’s leaders, I request that you audit the Secret Service protective security plans for the Inauguration, investigate and identify any deficiencies in security operations,” wrote Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) in a letter to some big shot at the Department of Homeland Security.

How ’bout this deficiency, Mr. Congressman?

DCist reports on some economists who studied the impact of the inauguration. So did it boost the local economy? We know Ben’s made out. We know the renters did not.

Frozen Tropics reports on some Catholic University architecture students who are studying H Street transportation. Next study topic: Benning Road. Please. Study it.

Southwest…The Little Quadrant That Could eyes some projects that may benefit from Obama’s stimulus package. And there’s some news about a new design for the South Cap bridge.

River East Idealist gets R.E.E.L.

Borderstan polls folks on whether 15th Street NW should have two-way traffic. We took on this issue a while ago.

D.C. Foodies takes a trip to the Falls Church farmers market. You decide if its worth the ride out there.