By Tom Bridge
Fairfax County Police are reporting that acting CFO of Freddie Mac has committed suicide in his Fairfax County Home this morning. Police arrived on the scene in the 5am hour this morning, after being summoned by family members, and found the body of David Kellerman, interim CFO of Freddie Mac.
Details are scarce, and the Police continue to investigate, and are no longer confirming the suicide diagnosis that a police spokeswoman gave. They are, however, confirming there was no foul play.
By Ben H. Rome
WLDC Stealth, courtesy of Don Whiteside
Unless this is your first time here you’re well aware that we’ve become a little obsessive over Jack Bauer’s tour through our city. We’ve got 15 17 hours worth of 24 recaps under our belt and fully intend to laugh (in order to fight off the tears) through the remaining 9 7 hours of Hollywood’s molestation of our geography. (Yes, Tiff, I suck at math.) So really, about the last thing we needed was to be further encouraged.
Enter the International Spy Museum.
The folks over at the museum’s retail store sent us some toys to play with, after having been entertained by our 24 recaps. So early in March, three items arrived in plain brown boxes by an unmarked panel truck. In the middle of the night.
After some email haggling, jovial threats and bickering, the WLDC staff managed to split up the loot gifts and proceeded to play with them: a micro-cam recorder, a ninja sword umbrella and night vision goggles. And now, we’re going to tell you all about it.
By Tom Bridge
Upwards to the Capitol
Originally uploaded by tbridge
Details are a bit sketchy at this point, but Gawker is reporting that the Capitol Visitors Center has been evacuated: Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
‘Kal Penn speaking at Inaugural Opening Ceremony’
courtesy of ‘JaneJGA’
Before catching 24 last night, we caught the last appearance of Kal Penn (famous for Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle) on House. As it turns out, Penn is coming to DC to work for the White House. He’ll be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison, with an office in the OEOB. Welcome to DC, Kal, we hope you love it here as much as we do.
By Tom Bridge
‘White Booby on Letterbox plateau’
courtesy of ‘drewavery’
I figured after the Maryland Legislature threatened not to fund U-MD for next year, the screening of Pirates 2 was all over but the crying (and the mopping, and the disinfecting), but that appears to not be the case. Apparently a group of students is intending to hold a screening anyway, and hold a free speech discussion before the movie. Of course, that means the legislators who threatened to withhold funding are doing so again.
I’ll give you one guess which party they belong to.
By Katie
‘Cupcake Fail’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
14th and You has a very excellent rant on the City Paper’s Best-Of winners that I won’t even try and repeat. It is truly brillz, you should read.
But I have a few more to add to Mr. 14th and You’s questions – Starbucks is really the second best coffee in the DC area, second only to Tryst? REALLY? ARE WE SURE? Hell Burger came in third in the best burgers? I’m sorry, have you tried them, people? They have BEST written all over them. Founding Farmers ranked as the best new restaurant? Have you met Co Co Sala, or actually, if chocolate is not your thing, have you ever even eaten at Founding Farmers? The reviews are horrible.
Maybe I’m self-righteous with all my foodie blogger clout and whatnot but the City Paper results make me roll my eyes. What about you? Any outright lies on the City Paper’s Best Of that you caught?
By Katie
My friend Rebecca and I had a good laugh this morning when we both got our DC Scout monthly e-mail. Click the above picture to enlarge and you’ll see that the subject line of the email says “DC Scout Test Subject Line – CHANGE BEFORE ACTUAL MAILING” – oops. I’ve totally been there before.
I hope your day gets better, WaPo, cause we all know what it’s like to stick your foot in your virtual mouth. If you were my co-worker I’d say “at least it’s Friday soon” but uh, it’s not. At least there’s happy hour in like, oh, 8 hours? …Right?
By Katie
‘ow’
courtesy of ‘Ryan Forsythe’
I spent some extra time on the Metro this morning (left my computer at home, only to realize it once I got to my desk. ugh.) and for once, I read both the Express AND the Examiner. What caught my eye this morning was the lead story in The Examiner – staff members from some of DC’s restaurants have been committing identity fraud by taking credit card information from customers.
Timely, since I’ve recently started paying close attention to my reciepts. I’ve started regularly checking for my credit card number to be printed on the copies of my reciepts along with the expiration date, and making sure to scribble it out. I’ve noticed it in tons of places – Guajillo, Summer’s Sports Bar, to name my most recent two – but not just at restaurants – Tschiffely Pharmacy in Union Station does it too. I take the time to scratch out my numbers and expiration date, but I imagine I’m the exception.
Where have you noticed this? Do you scratch out your numbers?
By Tom Bridge
I’m playing host this weekend to several out of town guests who’ve come to DC for an academic conference over at AAAS. We had a happy hour over at Cap City, and walked to dinner at Jaleo. In that short eight blocks, though, we saw some of DC’s absolute finest moments.
NBC Washington has the goods- video of the fireball and fauxsplosion on the Potomac this morning. Some would call it anticlimactic, but I don’t think a fireball can every really be considered boring.
UPDATE: And thanks to philliefan99 for contributing some photos to the We Love DC Flickr pool.
By Tom Bridge
‘Bang!’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’
There’s a hard choice on the table. The Senate will be taking up the revised legislation that would grant the District a voting Representative in the House, but would do so only if we also accepted that all of the District’s gun laws would have to come off the books for good.
The decision puts DC in between a rock and a hard place, as representation that the city has long sought is within grasp, but comes at what could be a terrible price. So, it seems we’re stuck. Compromise one principle to get access to one we’ve been long after? Or stick to your guns (uh, or lack thereof) and keep the dream of true voting perception at arms length still. It seems a bit of a Foustian bargain for the city. What are our leaders saying?
Continue reading
‘Real Estate For Sale Signs’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Our friends at Washingtonian inform us that Iceland is having to sell its ambassador’s residence in Kalorama Heights (not to be confused with the embassy itself, which is at 15th and M) due to the global recession that collapsed Iceland’s financial industry. You can snap up the 10 bedroom, 5 bath Tudor (with staff quarters!) for just a hair over $5.5 million. A bargain, no doubt.
By Tom Bridge
”Hollywood’ Parking Ticket’
courtesy of ‘p_a_h’
This one’s got to be just about the funniest story I’ve read in a while. Jenna Bush’s Secret Service detail in Baltimore got in a little bit of a pissing match with the Baltimore Police, which ended up in their vehicles being ticketed and towed from just outside Federal Hill.
Nice to know that the rules do apply to the Secret Service, when they’re parking illegally in a neighborhood known for horrific parking conditions to begin with. What do you say, good call to tow the USSS away? Bad? Anyone who’s ever circled and circled and circled in Federal Hill looking for a spot says good call, I think.
By Tom Bridge
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Michael Steele’s Rap Battle Response | ||||
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Sadly, when Stephen Colbert called out Michael Steele for a rap-off, they couldn’t get their calendars aligned. So, click the video above for a bit of a falsified battle. And a pinstripe hoodie. I think Colbert won, m’self.
By Don
‘layers’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Today’s WaPo includes a story about WMATA deciding to put their information up on the web. The rational response from someone who isn’t a transit foamer or mega-nerd is “isn’t it there already?” Yes, though not in the universal interchange format that would allow anyone with the will and ability to massage and repackage it – till now you’ve had to make use of WMATA’s website and tools rather than 3rd party options like using the transit calculator built into Google Maps.
Now that they’ve done this…. you’ll likely still have to use WMATA’s website. Whys and wherefores after the jump.
By Katie
‘wedding day activities’
courtesy of ‘CosmoPolitician’
I have paid a lot of money for a haircut in my time. In fact, once I grow out this mess on my head and need it to be styled into a wearable, professional stylish cut, I might even take Belle’s advice and hit up Molecule St. Germain in Penn Quarter, which would mean paying a hefty sum of money. But, like I always say, your hair is the one thing you wear every day, it’s the one quality wardrobe peice worth paying extra for.
AND THEN I READ THIS, an article from the Express that talks about the incoming “stylist to the celebrities” Ted Gibson, who is opening a salon in Chevy Chase. This was all good news to me, seeing as we can always use more style in DC, until I got to this point. “Well, my haircuts are $950. One of the reasons I charge that much is that, usually, when you go a high-profile hairdresser, you’re passed around through many different people. In my salon, you’re with me for the entire hour and a half.” I’m sorry, WHAT?! NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS. Let’s say that again. NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS. Yo, that’s like, more than what I pay in rent, plus utilities (yes I have a good deal, not the point) and I could probably, say, finance a car for that money.
What is happening here, people?! We are in the middle of a recession! Who in their RIGHT MIND is going to pay $950 for a hair cut? I’m dying to know who his customers are going to be, and if their hair cut will be able to make them dinner, pay their rent and buy them new clothes. Otherwise, two words: rip off.
By Katie
‘Tooth X-Ray’
courtesy of ‘Rex Roof’
I’ve been looking for a good dentist, and I’m getting frustrated, so I’m going to use my status as a blogger and call out – ya’ll, I need a recommendation for a dental supplement so check this Steel Bite Pro reviews.
I was reading some Steel Bite Pro reviews and this supplement can help you end the terrible, never-ending pulsating pain caused by tooth infections and gum disease. It can also stop your teeth from excessively moving or suddenly falling off.
Steel Bite Pro is also for people who wish to gain back their smiles. This supplement helps with developing better oral health, thus decreasing the sight of inflamed and bleeding gums. Experts recommend to combine this supplement with a professional dental whitening system like the one you can find at the link to get the best o it.
Nasty breath can also be prevented with invisalign clear braces, and you can smile with confidence once again. With Steel Bite Pro, you do not have to feel embarrassed about various oral conditions.
Ever since I moved up to DC, I’ve been looking for one until I found the soma beverly plastic surgery. The first one I went to here was shady, I won’t name names, but I got a weird vibe, and the office was more like a hospital waiting area with only sheets between the chairs than a dentist office with actual offices. So I started asking around – turns out none of my friends like their dentist, if they even HAVE a dentist at all!
So… fortunately I was able to find the best cosmetic dentist in town, book an appointment at www.360dentalcare.co.uk.
By Tom Bridge
I pulled a post here this evening, the first ever on We Love DC for content reasons. You might have seen it, it talked about the AIDS rate in the District of Columbia, news and media coverage of that rate, and it made some comments that I considered deeply harmful, ill-advised, and unacceptable to the level of quality that we try to hold ourselves to here at We Love DC.
If you were offended, either by the original piece, or by its disappearance, I apologize. If you want to talk about it, either here in the comments, or via email, I am absolutely glad to discuss it. My email is tom at we love dc dot com.
We’re serious about the AIDS epidemic, both here and abroad, and we’re serious about media criticism in a way that helps media grow and be held accountable for their writings. This post was serious about neither, and frankly represented some poor choices. That’s why I pulled it.
By Wayan
Time to run on the grass
Running along Colorado Avenue NW recently, I came across this scene: a sidewalk missing, so no place to run that’s not in the street. Now the usual response to this is to run on the pavement, but why? Isn’t the flat grassy area all public property? If you look in the distance, you can see a utility pole in that same flat grassy area, so its city property, not private property.
So I ran on the grass.
My knees were happy, as grass is softer than pavement, and Taxi Dog was happy, her paws like grass much more than pavement. But I wonder if the homeowners are going to be happy? Would you be? Especially if you were excited because your home didn’t have a sidewalk just to keep pedestrians away.
By Ben H. Rome
‘the very scary but not secret service’, courtesy of ‘spiggycat’
Stay tuned. (Updating with latest info first.)
3:05 Update: Segraves is reporting now that the White House knew about the raid before it went off this morning. Well, that’s good news I suppose.
11:56 Update: According to WTOP, both men are being held on bribery charges. At this time, there seems to be no link between them and former CTO Kundra. If anything further pops up, we’ll let you know.
11:40 Update: OCTO employee Private contractor Sushil Bansal has been arrested now. Bansal is the CEO of the Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation, which was awarded two contracts last year worth a total of $350,000. Continue reading
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