Posts Tagged ‘pork’
Swine Flu Scams: A Pandemic!
Don’t you just love it when you get your own anecdote to back up a news story?
Today, an unusual offer arrived in my inbox: a sales pitch for swine flu vaccine. All I’d have to do is send in my contact info. and a major credit card and the cure would arrive in the mail. Depending on how bad the pandemic gets, it could be a decent deal. Sure, whoever sent me the email could steal my credit card number or completely make off with my identity before proffering the precious antidote. But, at least, I’d be protected against the dreaded scourge, know officially as the global H1N1 flu pandemic.
OK, OK, so you’re on to me; I have no intention of providing my personal information to swine flu scammers. But, there must be some takers. The Food and Drug Administration has launched a crackdown on Internet purveyors of bogus flu cures.
AFTER THE JUMP: More on Internet scams and a new twist on pork-barrel politics.
Graham Still Looking Out for (Ward) No. 1
Screw the tanking economy: Der Schweinmeister is back.
On Tuesday, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham pre-emptively told reporters that he'll be directing a grant or two in his pending committee report. "We do have earmarks," he said, "but we have kept them to an absolute minimum."
Absolute minimum, eh? Quite a boast for a guy whose committee report last year LL called "a true masterpiece of the porkly arts."
LL spent this evening poring through his report, released today. Graham's barely lost a step. By LL's count, he's sent more than $6 million to favored community groups and to projects almost entirely located within his home ward. That's roughly the same amount he sent to Ward 1 groups and projects last year.
Where'd the money come from? Most of it came from three spots: $6.8 million came from the new "Sweeper Cam" program, where street sweepers are now equipped with automated cameras to record illegally parked cars. That revenue, from an estimated 237,500 $40 tickets, hadn't been figured into the 2010 budget. Another $12.6 million comes from "enhanced neighborhood parking enforcement citations"---in other words, more parking enforcement officers writing more tickets on nights and weekends. Graham also found $12.7 million in Metro funds "double counted" in the budget. So he spent that, too.
Now most of that went to fund various agency budget lines and to restore programs in other agencies. But a bunch of it didn't. Here's the full list:
Our Morning Roundup
Must read. Hint: Author George Saunders' take on lipsticks, pigs.
And Now, Anacostia explores an old masonic lodge. He's got the archival meat and potatoes i.e. old newspaper clippings to make this piece a must read for history buffs!
Prince of Petworth takes picture of building where a pizza place/wine bar is supposed to be in Adams Morgan . Finally, someone has combined two of the biggest cliches going: pizza-as-fine-dining and a wine bar. Thank God. Because there aren't enough of those around. (Well maybe there's always room for pizza). Meanwhile he asks if Polly's is OK. It is.
Upset the Setup worries about the health risks associated with plastic.
Penn Quarter Living reports that Wine Spectator has lavished praise on four PQ spots. Read the item to find out which spots!
Columbia Heights News provides the details for the upcoming Columbia Heights Day Festival on October 4.
Metrocurean details Art and Soul's opening: "This Southerner's heart went pitter-patter when I read that the restaurant's bar will offer boiled peanuts and pork cracklins as bar snacks..." Sounds pretty cool.
Farm Fresh Meat shares: "I am really busy and don't have time to say much, but this is about the longest I've gone without a post since this whole thing began so I wanted to drop by my own blog for a minute. It's been a pretty crazy week in finance. It remains unclear what will happen in the long run, but it's pretty safe to say that the face of Wall Street is pretty damn battered and will probably never be quite the same..."
