Recommended Reading: Deals For Furloughed Federal Employees

[Note: this post was queued up before President Trump caved yesterday and opened the government without funds for The Wall]

See Shutdown specials: DC-area deals for furloughed government workers at WTOP.

Brief excerpt (Yes, brief. The list is extensive):

The Harlem Globetrotters are offering two free tickets to the 2019 Fan Powered North American tour for furloughed workers. Just show a valid government ID at the box office.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at Stonebridge in Prince William County is offering free movies to federal employees throughout January.

Anytime Fitness locations in Poolesville, Maryland, and Kensington, Maryland, are offering 14 days free for furloughed workers, which includes access to fitness classes and private fitness consultation.

The Audubon Naturalist Society has free memberships available for furloughed workers. But, if you’re already a member and a furloughed employee, there are free extensions on membership renewals. Also, free “Yoga in the Woods” and guided sanctuary tours. Get the full details here.

Government workers that need to sweat it out can try an indoor cycling class at the CYCLED studio in Silver Spring or try the Cycling, Barre or Yoga Sculpt class at the Takoma Park location. Furloughed feds should use the code “SweatItOut@CYCLED!” to sign up and flash a government ID at the check-in desk.

Burns Heating & Air says it will help furloughed workers stay warm in the freezing weather with furnace repair. The company, which serves Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia, is offering a payment plan allowing furloughed workers to pay their bills whenever the government reopens. Call 540-208-5660, or text and call 703-884-7130, and have a pay stub and government ID ready.

Michael and Son is doing something similar, offering furloughed employees six months of no payments on plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling repairs carried out while they go without a paycheck....

Much, much more HERE.

Your thoughts?

BREAKING NOW: HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE HAS BEEN SHOT AT AN EARLY MORNING GOP BASEBALL TEAM PRACTICE IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA!

(Note to readers: tomorrow, I will republish the original post I had already put up for today)

The scene this morning (image credit)

Details everywhere on the web (Google search term: steve scalise shot), including at Infidel Bloggers Alliance, where I have been frenetically posting updates.

Congressman Steve Scalise (R-Lousiana) was shot and was lying wounded on the outfield for about 10 minutes.  Two Capitol Police officers have also been shot.

Among the updates I've posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

This shooting appears to be a deliberate, target attack on the GOP (CNN).

The weapon appears to have been an AR-15 (according to some gun-savvy witnesses, Fox News).

Fox News: the shooting went on for 10 minutes. The shooter reloaded at least once.

The Congressional Teams Baseball Game was supposed to take place tomorrow at Nationals Field and has been well-publicized (Fox News).

One of the Capitol Police officers, although shot, was able to take down the shooter. The shooter is now en route to a hospital (Fox News).

Congressman Scalise was airlifted from the scene and is now in the hospital, probably INOVA Fairfax Hospital, which has a trauma center (Fox News).

"It was a shooting field" (Rand Paul, interviewed by phone on Fox News). Some 50 rounds were fired by the gunman.

According to Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), Steve Scalise was playing 2nd base. When he was shot, he dragged himself into the outfield so as to be further away from the shooter, who was behind the 3rd base dugout. Congressman Jeff Flake went to the outfield to put pressure on Scalise's hip wound. The Congressional Baseball Game has been a Washington tradition for over 16 years (Fox News).

Report on Fox News: before the shooting started, a man in running shorts came up and asked if the baseball team was Democrats or Republicans.

UPDATE: Congressman Scalise may be at Georgetown University Medical Center. Police in assault rifles all over the ER entrance there.  The Today Show Twitter feed is showing that he may have a groin wound:

New video shows Congressman @SteveScalise after Alexandria shooting. https://t.co/afPAJ2WT6x

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 14, 2017

As Anonymous posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

If the shooter is tied to the right Trump will be blamed. If the shooter is tied to the left the gun will be blamed.

As predicted (with thanks to Anonymous at Infidel Bloggers Alliance):

Rolling Stone, Washington Post Freelancer Blames Scalise For Getting Himself Shot https://t.co/dWKFfShEej

— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) June 14, 2017

UPDATE...Shooter identified by law enforcement officials as James T. Hodgkinson:

The shooter at the GOP congressional baseball practice this morning is James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., according to law enforcement officials. Hodgkinson, 66, owns a home inspection business. His home inspection license expired in November 2016 and was not renewed, state records show.

Hodgkinson was charged in April 2006 with battery and aiding damage to a motor vehicle, according to online records in St. Clair County, Illinois. The charges were dismissed, records show.

Apparently, the shooter is a Bernie Sanders supporter and rabidly anti-Trump.  More information about the shooter HERE at Heavy.com.

Horrific Local Story

On Friday, February 5. 2016, Deonte Carraway, a volunteer aide at Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Prince George's County, Maryland, was arrested on charges of manufacturing pornographic videos of children.  At least some of the videos were made on the school grounds during school hours.  Carraway has confessed to making the videos and faces ten felony counts.

There are at least 10 victims, ranging in age from 9 to 13. Police expect that there are more victims and are asking the public to check their children's social media platforms and cell phones.

The story doesn't end there.

Carraway also worked as a volunteer with children at an aquatic center, in a youth choir, and at a community center.

And the story doesn't end there, either.

We read this a few days later:

A lawsuit filed against Prince George’s County Public Schools claims that the predatory behavior of a volunteer aide, who is now facing child sex abuse and child pornography charges, was well known by students, teachers and parents and even reported to the school’s principal.

[...]

The suit says that other county school children also were sexually abused by Carraway, who coerced and pressured the students to engage in sex acts with the 22-year-old man on school property during the school day. Also, Carraway coerced the children into engaging in sexual acts with each other, according to the lawsuit.

He used locations such as the auditorium and bathrooms to film the acts on his cellphone. Videos found by police date back from early 2015 and continued until last week.

[...]

According to the suit, teachers expressed concerns about Carraway to Williams before Carraway began to abuse the 9-year-old boy....

The principal, whose salary range appears to be $98,500-$136,349, has now been placed on administrative leave, with salary and benefits intact while the investigation is ongoing. Educational malpractice pays.

What a world!

And why didn't Principal Michelle Williams follow protocol and contact the police when the first allegation was made — especially since the allegation was made against a volunteer aide?

The Mayor Of Baltimore

During the riots in Baltimore on Monday evening into Tuesday morning, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said that she didn't say what she did say a few short days before the violence erupted. Two short videos below the fold.

FEATURED QUESTION: "Free-Range Parenting"

(This blog post to remain here for several days. Please scroll down for other material)

Recently, two "free-range" children (age 10 and age 6) were held in custody for hours in Montgomery County, Maryland, as the parents frenetically sought the whereabouts of this children.

Full article from the Washington Post below the fold. Please read the entire article before commenting.

Again!

(Two posts today.  Please scroll down)

Snowing here in the D.C. area — once again, more than the weathermen forecast!

This is the Year of the Snow Dragon (with thanks to FreeThinke for emailing me the image below):

SNOW DRAGON

Breaking News For D.C.

(Two posts today. Please scroll down for the earlier post today)

Patient Being Tested for Ebola at D.C.'s Howard University Hospital: Patient had traveled to Nigeria recently; is being isolated and tested

Second patient with Ebola-like symptoms in D.C. region

The Disappearance Of Hannah Graham (Updated)

(For international news, please scroll down to the post just below this one)

Hannah Graham, who went missing in Charlottesville, Virginia, on September 12, 2014

What is this "person of interest" wearing?

Thought For Today

As I have mentioned at various locations in the blogosphere, my mother-in-law is in the final stage of Alzheimer's Disease. She is a pitiful creature, and all who love her are more than ready for the Lord to call her home.

Before she was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's, she was very difficult.  The word difficult doesn't begin to convey her personality.

Islamic Slavery In Northern Virginia

(Two posts today. Please scroll down to today's first post)

See this DOJ report, dated March 5, 2014, for detailed information.

Video from ABC7 News:

Windows Of Cheer

If the video refuses to play, CLICK HERE.

Article: "Colorful murals keep a daughter’s memory alive."

The Washington Monument

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

After a 2011 earthquake damaged the Washington Monument, scaffolding was erected.   On July 8, 2013, the scaffolding was illuminated.

This might be a good idea for a longer period of time:

How Appropiate!

The "giant corpse flower" has bloomed on Capitol Hill.


The Titan arum draws insects that are attracted to rotting flesh and is native to Indonesia.


Full article HERE.


Note: This post is not a joke.

So Glad That I Live In Northern Virginia!

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Not in Prince George's County, Maryland! Please note some of the comments, which assert that certain aspects of WTOP's story are misleading.

What a time to shut off the water for 3-5 days, huh?

Conform!

The government of the District of Columbia, apparently having nothing else to do, has decided that taxicabs in Washington, D.C, must conform to a uniform color code.  Four of the proposed color schemes:

You can view all of the color schemes HERE.

According to the Washington Times:

STORM!

(If you must have politics, keep scrolling)

After nearly 16 hours without power as the result of a horrific storm...

The Entitlement Mentality: Underage Drinking

Recently, Andrea McCarren, a reporter for WUSA, one of our local news channels, did a special report on underage drinking.

For a time, she withdrew herself from future appearances on camera because of the ensuing threats.

Excerpt from the story:

An Honors Student And Jihad Jane

Apparently, the young man was an excellent student; he qualified for a full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University.

The Invasion Of The Stink Bugs

Note: This post is about six-legged stink bugs (insects) as opposed to two-legged ones (politicians).
Does your part of the country has to deal with these critters? Here in the suburbs in D.C. area, we have them by the hordes, with the numbers still increasing.

Even during the winter season, not a day goes by that I don't find in the house every single day several stink bugs — the first daily one dubbed "the morning stink bug" and promptly dispatched. Until a few years ago, I'd never even seen one of these insects.

Usually, pets will hunt down and dispose of a few six-legged pests. But not in the case of these brown marmorated stink bugs!

Now we learn that the invasion of brown marmorated stink bugs will be ramping up this spring and summer. Oh, joy.

A short video from my local television station WUSA9: