The Corrupt Ones 2008

MAJORITY OF VOTERS TRUST MCCAIN MORE THAN OBAMA

2008-04-29T00:55:00.002-04:00

On as series of key Election 2008 issues, voters generally trust Democrats more than Republicans on most key electoral issues. At the same time, however, John McCain is trusted more than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama on these issues by Democrats, Independents and Republicans combined:

1.The Economy
2. War in Iraq
3.National Security
4. Government Ethics and Corruption
5. Taxes

A national survey shows that Barack Obama is the least trusted to keep his word on the five issues stated above.

Jonathan R. Rees

COUNCILWOMAN YVETTE ALEXANDER, ANOTHER LEZBO

2008-04-28T10:00:00.002-04:00

Some of the finer African American lesbians of the District insist that ward 7 council member Yvette Alexander is one of them and has had sexual relationships with the likes of Cora Masters Barry and other prominent lesbians of the community.

Are we surprised?

Nope; not at all.

So why the outing of Yvette Alexander now?

Is it because she is seeking to be re-elected in November to her ward 7 seat and this effort to out her is designed to prejudice the predominantly African American ward 7 voters against her?

Who knows, but there is no denying that she has deep ties and friendships in the black GLBT communities of DC and suburban Maryland?

Albert Bartee

DC WIRE BACK ONLINE

2008-04-28T09:40:00.003-04:00

The Washington Post's political blog known as DC Wire has been back online for a good while now but its readership is one of the lowest of any political blogs in DC.

Why?

It is too white.

It is a part of the racist Washington Post.

It talks of issues most don't give a shit about.

Most importantly, it is boring.

Mad Man Manny

DC…ONE OF THE MOST BORING CITIES IN THE WORLD

2008-04-28T07:40:00.003-04:00

While tourists will flock to Washington, DC, they flock here only to see the apparatus of the United States Government and not because DC has anything culturally speaking worth looking at.

About 97% of the American Population has never traveled outside the USA or more than 1,000 miles from home.

I have been in almost every European country, parts of Asia, Central and South America and two countries on the African continent, and I can say that I have visited over 100 cities that beat out Washington, DC in the categories of food, entertainment, cleanliness, cost and variety.

To be honest, Washington, DC is like watching black and white TV while the world has gone HD and full color.

Look at who is running DC and you will quickly understand why DC is a third world place to be culturally and in so many ways.

Jonathan R. Rees

THE FEDS ROLE IN THE DECLINING EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

2008-04-28T06:02:00.003-04:00

Over the years, the U.S. Department of Education has played less and less of a role in the educating of our children, and has become more of a agency that just keeps statistics.

This withdrawal from the actual education of our children was the start of the problems that has affected schools across the nation.

Leaving our children’s education up to the states has had a mix bag of results, most of which has not been positive.

Of course, this withdrawal from the actual educating of our children by the US Department of Education is just part of the problem. Other contributing factors are the lack of parental participation in the after school home work process, students relying on technology not their own brain power and many after school distractions.

The average college graduate since 1990 has a reading, writing and mathematical level below that of a 10th grader as even our colleges are graduating people just because of the mere fact they could afford the outrageous tuition.

Our educational system is in trouble from grade 1 through the bachelor degree.

Jonathan R. Rees

WAYS MEN CAN AVOID PROSTATE CANCER

2008-04-28T05:44:00.001-04:00

While there are a long list of jokes about guys who choke their chicken (masturbate), recent studies show that men who choke their chicken 3 to 4 times a week or have sex that often have a much lower rate of developing prostate cancer and other prostate related problems as they age.

Does this me; Use it or lose it?

Kathleen Kravitz

POLITICAL CORRUPTION, FRAUD & MORE

2008-04-27T07:54:00.003-04:00

There are non-profit organizations that receive local and federal funding for anti-violence programs in the District whose money has been withheld because of the tax scandal.

One such program is the Safe Streets Initiative that DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier, the Mayor, Council and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton brag about to combat crime at the community level.

One Safe Street Initiative charged with keeping the peace in the 7th and O Street neighborhood has not received funding in four months.

Everyday, several young Black men go in the neighborhoods to help keep a truce between two rival gangs. The program has shown successes, including gang members from both sides working together as a team to diffuse problems.

Several weeks ago, DC Council Chairman Vincent Gray spoke at a youth hearing. He told different anti-violence organizations that the reason they have not received funding this year was due to a "comprehensive" tax audit of the District's budget linked to the tax scandal.

Vincent Gray is a stone cold idiot if he thinks that people are going to buy that crap! And this fool wants to run against Fenty for mayor. They're both crazy.

The gangster whores who stole the tax money year-after-year to get their hair done, nails done, vacations, send family members to college, buy homes and time shares, wear designer clothing and bling, bling and lest we forget contribute to political campaigns ----- have nothing to do with anti-violence groups being paid now!

If a FOIA were requested to check if Peacoholics receives its money versus other organizations, the results would make things absolutely clear. The Council should release funds to non-profit organizations that are truly providing services and stop fooling around with peoples' lives.

It's time to expose crooked politicians that misdirect funds from good organizations like the Safe Streets Initiative and others that provide direct services to youth or 7th and O will end up like 19th and Maryland Avenue, NE last week just another neighborhood that became victim to the squeeze after the funds were redirected. The District has the money but is diverting it for other purposes threatening to cut programs off completely for making this public.

How does the District come up with millions every year in surplus? By not paying non-profits, not providing basic supplies like copying paper to agencies, and most of all refusing to provide direct services to residents.

There are other non-profits like Safe Streets, Tell us about what's going on.

Albert Bartee

LIL NIGGAZ KILLING OTHER LIL NIGGAZ

2008-04-27T06:43:00.003-04:00

If you take a close look at the rash of gun violence in the city, the lack of closure and more, you will find that those committing the crimes are young African American men killing other young African American men with the police a mile away in resolving them.

If you have your head to the ground you will often hear some police officers say, “Well that is just another drug dealer down” or “That is just one less, dumb ass Nigga to worry about” which makes you wonder if the police really give a fuck if black people are killing each other. Geez we are just Niggaz!

If these killings were taking place in Jack Evan’s or Mary Cheh’s side of the city and the victims were white people being killed by us Niggaz you would see not just the MPD, DEA and FBI; you might also see the KKK involved to track down those Niggaz doing it and there would be results.

My ass isn’t worth shit because I am African American male or just another statistical nigga.

Albert Bartee

IS BARACK OBAMA A LOST CAUSE IN NOVEMBER

2008-04-26T13:01:00.004-04:00

If this was a race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a general election, the race would have been called by now. See pic.

Clinton's states are blue, Obama's is red. She already has the needed "270 votes".

Obama has proven again and again that he cannot carry a big state outside his home state.

This is a disaster for Democrats in the general election.

Many of Obama's wins are in caucus states and are inherently Republican and misleading. Super Delegates need to think long and hard about choosing a almost certain loser in Obama.

At least 13 of the states Obama has won are sure to go GOP in the fall. Only 4 Clinton states will probably go GOP.

No matter how much you like Obama as I do, he cannot win in November against John McCain.

Albert Bartee

MAYOR FENTY IS LIKE THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS

2008-04-26T12:45:00.002-04:00

DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has one thing in common with our local baseball team the Washington Nationals and that is, both always seem to enjoy the position of being The Bottom!

Albert Bartee

IT IS TIME FOR CATHY LANIER TO GO

2008-04-26T09:20:00.001-04:00

Under DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier, homicides, violent crimes, home invasions and more have climbed rapidly and steadily.

Last night, May 25-26, there were 7 more shootings across the District with 3 fatalities.

How much longer does the District have to endure the failed policies and incompetence of Cathy Lanier who got the job only because she covered up Mayor Adrian Fenty’s years of spousal abuse?

Paulie Russo

HOW THE DC TAX SCANDAL TOOK SHAPE

2008-04-26T08:56:00.002-04:00

Every year, a group of preppie White guys come to DC to buy a bunch of property from the tax sales. Insiders said this age old practice goes like this. The guys come in on the first day with huge containers of coffee, donuts, fruit and juice that is given to some chick. She gives it to the girls. The guys get A-1 treatment.

By the time the guys arrive, the info has already been released. The girlies have researched and informed them on what properties they are most likely to get because the owner is old, sick, Black and po' or out of town.

These so called sophisticated bitches are treacherous! Oh yes, they have the ultimate look - the expensive weave, a nail and toe job that looks like a production, fancy cars, expensive jewelry, designer clothes, houses, and a constant greedy palm that needs to be fed.

By the way, for years many Black women who worked in key positions throughout the DC government were ex-prostitutes, ex-whores or ex-junkies. Now reformed - their whorish ways don't stop it is just refined. They lie, cheat and steal to maintain their homes, car payments and lavish lifestyles - but they're not sucking and fucking for it on their knees. The whores are at their desk giving away the city!

When there's an opening in the department - no self-respecting, qualified or honest person can get a job in these camps. That DC 2000 is zapped! These ex-alley whores want more trash like themselves up in these departments to look the other way while they continue to do the dirt. The street games continue. The victims are unsuspecting DC residents.

How do you think the tax scandal continued for years? Because those co-workers had each others back. And they made sure through their other whore buddies in human resources (employment) that the applications of their street buddies got pulled and decent peoples' applications were never seen.

Albert Bartee

DC SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR MICHELLE RHEE IS A FUCKIN IDIOT

2008-04-26T01:43:00.002-04:00

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee keeps on saying that the key to seeing our children do better rests in the quality of our teachers.How wrong she is.

The key to seeing our children do better rests in the quality of the after school help they get from their parents, older siblings and/or tutors.

Ms. Rhee does not know what she is talking about, but what do you expect from a person who never ran a school district before; just an employment agency that placed teachers.

As for the equally incompetent members of the DC City Council who confirmed her, they showed all of us how ignorant they are on matters of education and the historical facts surrounding what does and does not result in Johnny can read finally.

If history has taught us anything, it has taught us that a classroom of students with the same teacher will yield better scores and learning retention by children who have a parent, older sibling or tutor to help them in their after school home work than those who do not have such.

Ms. Rhee is an incompetent, puppet that is only vomiting up what others like Dan Tangherlini is scripting for her as a justification to terminate good teachers with sinister intent.

There is no evidence to support Ms. Rhee’s novel theories.

Jonathan R. Rees

JAY LENO INSULTS THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS

2008-04-25T23:44:00.004-04:00

On NBC’s Tonight Show 04/25/2008, Jay Leno in one of his jokes called the Washington Nationals lazier than the people of Washington, DC.

Keeping it real, the Washington Nationals is one of the worst teams in major league baseball.

Mad Man Manny

IN THE CLOSET WITH MAYOR ADRIAN M. FENTY & FRIENDS

2008-04-25T16:12:00.003-04:00

I have always taken the position that any person who cannot be honest about herself/himself will not be honest with others as is the case with our bi-sexual mayor Adrian Fenty.

It is the lie that he lives with that makes him so deceptive with others and has cost him the last eighteen months a good number of his former supporters.

Most people don't know the real Adrian Fenty but we do and we will begin educating the masses.

Albert Bartee

YOU ARE BEING SPIED ON

2008-04-25T15:44:00.003-04:00

METRO has announced that next time you ride one of their subway trains and/or buses that there will be a spie on them.

These spies are there METRO says to spie not on you, but on the workers of METRO to insure that the ride is timely, courteous and each train and/or bus is kept tidy?

Do you believe them?

Paulie Russo

THE DUMB AND THE DUMBER

2008-04-24T21:48:00.001-04:00

Free tickets to Washington Nationals games have sparked conflict between D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. City Council.

Fenty is refusing to equally share the tickets with the 13 council members. It could be a sign of more serious problems between the mayor and the council.

Fenty is controlling the complimentary tickets, which are traditionally shared equally with the council.

Isn’t this proof how worthless Mayor Adrian Fenty and the DC City Council are that they get into a fight over baseball tickets when they are more pressing issues?

Paulie Russo

TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A BLACK FAG

2008-04-24T15:08:00.005-04:00

The mayor of District Heights, Md., a Baptist minister was arrested in northwest D.C. last night and charged with solicitation for lewd and immoral purposes.

James L. Walls Jr., 30, was arrested at Sixth and F streets. Sources said he allegedly solicited a male prostitute who was actually an undercover officer.

Mayor Wallace is a close friend of Mayor Adrian Fenty and a part of the bi/gay network of political leaders in the Metro DC area.

Albert Bartee

WHO ARE THE WORST DC COUNCIL MEMBERS

2008-04-24T01:55:00.002-04:00

Many of us have uttered the words that “this” DC City Council is the worst ever, but which of its members are the worst when it comes to constituent services? By constituent services I am speaking of who does not respond to letters, respond to phone calls, follow up and more.

The top prize goes to David Catania followed by Carol Schwartz. On the other end, Jim Graham actually has the best record of responding to his constituents.

I base my conclusion upon people I work with from all wards, people I know and from talking to hundreds of people who have contacted members of the council.

To test my theory, I and six of my friends contacted by email and fax both Catania and Schwartz with matters that concerned issues within their domain. None of us ever got a letter, phone call or email back. We then sent a second email and fax and again, these two never responded.

So each of us decided let’s send an email to Jim Graham to see if he would respond and bingo, Jim Graham answered all of us and did not have a staffer do it for him.

The point is, why are we electing or re-electing people who ignore their constituents?

Jonathan R. Rees

IS CAROL SCHWARTZ HEADING TO THE GLUE FACTORY

2008-04-23T21:23:00.003-04:00

It is starting to look like DC Councilwoman Carol Schwartz may not be seeking re-election to her at-large seat on the DC City Council.

While other city council candidates already have their campaigns in full swing, Schwartz remains idle.

Will she or will she not seek re-election?

Kathleen Kravitz

MY MAYOR, MY PUNK ASS BITCH XII

2008-04-23T21:05:00.003-04:00

Mayor Adrian Fenty has announced that he would like more power to make it easier to go after slumlords and to assist tenants who are victims of them.

Didn't Mayor Fenty own or still owns a few slum houses of his own in conjunction with his wife?

Doesn't this sound like bullshit?

Albert Bartee

THE BATMAN & ROBIN OF THE DC POLICE

2008-04-23T10:10:00.004-04:00

There are over 2,000 officers of the DC Metropolitan Police Department but two of the nicest officers you can meet are assigned to the Latino Liaison Unit.

We are talking about officers Pedro Garcia A/k/a Fat Bastard and his side kick Jose Magana A/k/a Mini Me.

Garcia and Magana exemplify what policing should be; namely, they really get out there among the citizens, make friends, gain trust and instill confidence that they will do their job while being fair, even-handed and not go overboard.

If all MPD officers would have these guys' persona, DC would have the best police department in the country.

Jonathan R. Rees

THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

2008-04-22T22:13:00.000-04:00

Kathleen Kravitz

CLINTON WINS PENNSYLVANIA

2008-04-22T21:18:00.002-04:00

Hillary Clinton won a sizeable amount of the votes in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary but the big question is, how big and how many delegates will she get.

The answers will probably not come until tomorrow morning.

One thing is for sure, this race will probably go down to the wire.

Paulie Russo

TITS ARE IT

2008-04-22T07:45:00.003-04:00

We are not surprised to say that men tend to gravitate in the choice of women in their lives 9 times out of 10 based upon the size of a woman’s breast.

When looking at the unmarried, female population, the vast majority of these women tend to have little or no bust line.

Why are men gravitating toward busty women? Ask them.

Paulie Russo

TWENTY FIVE (25%) PERCENT OF YOU WILL GET CANCER

2008-04-22T07:23:00.003-04:00

It is estimated that 1 of every 4 Americans will develop some form of cancer ranging from a type of cancer that can end your life within a year’s time to the type that will take 10-30 years to kill you.

Bladder Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer and Brain Cancer which are the most aggressive types to the lesser kinds of cancers of the skin, lungs, stomach and other areas known as Quasi Benign Carcinoid tumors.

Each year, Lung Cancer kills more women than Breast, Cervical and Ovarian cancers combined but more energy is spent on Breast Cancer which takes longer to kill women than the other kind we have mentioned.

Yet what hurts people is the fact that diagnosing cancer is not an easy thing for doctors to do as many of the new and advance technologies are still highly flawed with a 20% to 30% failure rate to properly diagnosis which increases the risk that some cancers when finally diagnosed correctly have already reached a point of not being able to be treated to allow you to live.

America and its states must come to realize that we have reached a point that we must move toward national health care coverage for all, government must invest more money into all forms of health care research and treatments and better law protecting workers from employers letting them go disingenuously because of illness must be enacted as the Americans With Disabilities Act is not strong enough.

The longer we live, the more diseases we face.

Kathleen Kravitz, RN

RE-WRITING THE LAWS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

2008-04-22T06:54:00.004-04:00

The District of Columbia has far too many laws that are no longer needed, out of date and the DC City Council should overhaul the entire Code of the District of Columbia instead of adding more bull shit laws to it.

One area that needs massive change is in our family laws but specifically, in matters of divorce and child custody issues where the government should get out of the business of legislating what a good parent is based upon many unrealistic perceptions of the ideal and not the real along with its crazy notion that parenting can be taught when such is a part of the natural order.

Our family laws have done more harm to the family than good, these laws have weakened the backbone of America and literally peg people against each other with anger, disdain, vengeance and more with its confrontational approach.

It is time the D.C. City Council stop creating new laws and overhaul the ones we now have.

Jonathan R. Rees

CHANGE YOU CAN ONLY DREAM OF

2008-04-22T06:38:00.001-04:00

For over 100 years, politicians running for national office have run on a platform of changing the way Washington does business but nobody has ever been able to change it.

Barack Obama is running on a campaign of changing Washington but ignores the fact that many a president tried but failed.

Obama needs to abandon this theme in the final lap and focus more on specific things that he will do.

Jonathan R. Rees

LET THE EXECUTIONS RESUME

2008-04-21T15:57:00.004-04:00

The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for Alabama, Mississippi and Texas to set new execution dates for three inmates who were granted last-minute reprieves by the justices last year.

The court on Monday turned down appeals from Thomas Arthur of Alabama, Earl Wesley Berry of Mississippi and Carlton Turner of Texas. The court blocked their executions last fall while it considered a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedures.

The justices said those procedures are not unconstitutionally cruel, a decision that almost certainly will lead to a resumption of executions after a 7-month hiatus.

The big question is, how many states will now move forward to clear out their death row roster?

Paulie Russo

PLEASE ROB THE FAT CATS OF WARD 3 DC

2008-04-21T09:01:00.001-04:00

Burglaries are on the rise in the District, with police blaming the souring economy as a contributing factor in a 21 percent increase in break-ins over the same period last year.

When the economy goes down and people are hurting, all forms of crime tend to go upward but don’t get mad, get even with those who caused it and play Robin Hood and steal from the fat cats of ward 3 DC who are too often behind the souring of the local economy.

Albert Bartee

HOME DELIVERIES ARE DOWN 50%

2008-04-20T23:43:00.003-04:00

Across the District of Columbia restaurants that specialize in home delivery of foods like Chinese, Pizzas and more have cut their delivery staffing in half since January because of a major decline in home delivery orders.

The foregoing is a clear indication of the local economy and the fears that people have about the future.

As a matter of fact, about 10% of all restaurants that do home delivery have stopped all day time delivery as being too costly and are now limiting their services to 5 PM to 12 Midnight.

When the local restaurant industry sees a decline in business then you know things are not good.

Jonathan R. Rees

88 MINUTES

2008-04-20T18:31:00.002-04:00

Most movies now in theatres suck.

One movie is worth seeing and that is, 88 Minutes starring Al Pacino.

Albert Bartee

SLEEPING AT THE JOHN WILSON BUILDING

2008-04-20T18:12:00.002-04:00

If you have noticed the past month, the Government of the District of Columbia and its elected leaders have been very inactive and quiet whereby the news media has done little or no reporting on them.

We believe that short of a major fuck up by our local, elected leaders, the news media will focus less and less on them but on national news issues.

Paulie Russo

THOSE BULL SHIT JOB INTERVIEWS

2008-04-19T18:20:00.002-04:00

Most employers when they call you in for a job interview are never honest with you during the interviewing process but are just going through the company’s motions to make sure that they have interviewed enough people from the two genders and from the various races found in the community.

In sum, you are lied to in 90% of all interviews you go to.

A few signs that you are being bull shitted and have no real chance for the job are:

►When the interviewer cannot give you a definite day they will make an offer;
►When the interviewer is not sure what the starting pay is;
►When the interviewer focuses more on you than on the merits of what you offer;
►When the interviewer tells you that this is the first of several levels of interviews;
►When the interviewer seems not to remember a thing about your Resume; and
►When the interviewer seems very disorganized.

Good employers have already weeded through the Resumes, they will narrow it down to two or three candidates, they will be very specific during your interview and never need a second interview to make a decision.

Paulie Russo

NEO NAZI ACTIVITIES IN DC

2008-04-19T16:24:00.003-04:00

A controversial organization is marching on the National Mall to protest pro-immigration policy.

The group, known as the National Socialist Movement, was supposed to gather at noon at the monument but the march did not begin until 3 p.m. according to the Anti-Defamation League, the group is the largest neo-Nazi group in the United States.

Last time we saw the likes of anything of the NAZI orientation were several public gatherings where people were chanting "Heil Fenty" and it was mainly young, white kids doing that and Fenty gave them the Nazi heil sign back.

Paulie Russo

BIG PAPA IN THE BIG APPLE

2008-04-19T16:15:00.002-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI is finishing up his first major U.S. turn in New York City by saying mass as St. Patrick's Cathedral.

So how would you rate his impact upon America?

Many see Benedict as a transitional Pope and feel real changes that might need to be made won't until the next Pope takes the seat of Peter.

Mad Man Manny

AND THE WINNER IS - NOT YOU

2008-04-19T16:10:00.002-04:00

The U.S. economy is now going through a cycle and it will not matter who we elected in November to become our next president.

Yet this coming week we will see several more presidential primaries but the Democratic one will probably settle the issue will it be Clinton or Obama.

If anybody is expect big things to come then they are sadly mistaken.

Mad Man Manny

GO STRAIGHT TO JAIL, DO NOT PASS GO

2008-04-19T00:10:00.003-04:00

Friday and Saturday nights are the two nights in DC where the streets of Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill and Georgetown are flooded with people cruising in and out of the bars and restaurants to have a good time.

Yet, the streets of DC are also flooded with members of the criminal element looking to prey upon those out to enjoy themselves and tonight was no exception.

Around 10:15 P.M. on the corner of 18th Street and Florida Avenue one of DC’s finest muggers struck and within two minutes time, there were more cops after his ass that cockroaches in a slum house.

The cops got the perpetrator who denied he had committed a mugging, denied that he attempted to assault an officer and insisted that he would not allow the police to put him in a police car and would lie down on the ground to prevent being hauled off to jail.

Well, the police ever so gently got him in the patrol car and turned him into the bitch he was and hauled him off to the slammer.

Enjoy the video below.

Albert Bartee

I'LL CRIPPLE YOU or MAYBE I WILL JUST KILL YOU

2008-04-18T02:02:00.001-04:00

Kathleen Kravitz, RN

WE ARE HOPE

2008-04-18T01:48:00.000-04:00

Kathleen Kravitz, RN
Oncology Nurse

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S KEYBOARDIST DIES AT 58

2008-04-18T01:29:00.002-04:00

Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising," died Thursday. He was 58.

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Paulie Russo

IT IS WORTH REPEATING AGAIN

2008-04-17T21:01:00.006-04:00

With Pope Benedict XVI here in Washington, DC and the words that he has spoken reminds us of our overall short-comings as a people, but more so as the people of the most powerful and richest country in the world.

Equality, justice and respect still eludes most of us as we reach out for our own selfish profit which we are warned against not doing whether we are Buddhists, Christians, Jews or Muslims.

Here in the District of Columbia while we are represented by a government that is heavily members of the Democratic party, they too through their greed add to the suffering of over 1/3 its local population and the majority of voters sit back and accept this wrong with its bigger wrong known as Mayor Adrian Fenty who throws the poor the crumbs from the table while giving his backers the meat on the bones.

Paulie Russo

GASOLINE PRICE FREEZE

2008-04-17T16:37:00.006-04:00

During the Richard Nixon administration a price freeze across American was enacted to stop certain industries from driving America into a deep recession and it worked.

Has America reached that point again where the Bush Administration should issue a price freeze on the oil industry since they are the bad guys causing prices everywhere to soar 6% to 20% on various necessities?

We believe that America cannot withstand any further increases in the cost of gasoline, heating oil or diesel oil and the US Government may need to consider a limited price freeze on the oil companies.

Paulie Russo

POPE BENEDICT XVI LAMBLASTS THE US DREAM

2008-04-17T16:11:00.002-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI presided over a Mass celebrated in 10 languages Thursday, calling the United States a land of opportunity and hope but decrying that the nation's promise has been left unfulfilled for some.

His homily was more somber. Benedict examined American society, saying he detected anger and alienation, increasing violence and a "growing forgetfulness of God."

"Americans have always been a people of hope," he said. "Your ancestors came to this country with the experience of finding new freedom and opportunity.

"To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves."

Jonathan R. Rees

MY MAYOR, MY PUNK ASS BITCH XII

2008-04-17T09:30:00.003-04:00

Have you ever noticed that none of Mayor Adrian Fenty's people ranging from the chief of police to the director of D.DOT are ever in a photo op concerning their activities without us having to see Mayor Adrian Fenty's faggot ass face in the picture?

One would think that nobody is allowed to pose for a photo op unless Fenty approves it or has to be in it to give voters a false impression that he was behind all the goodies.

Actually we think the best photo ops that Fenty are in, are those with all of his gay and bi-sexual homies where he actually smiles and means it!

Albert Bartee

APPARENT MURDER IN DOWNTOWN DC

2008-04-16T23:59:00.004-04:00

Tonight, Wednesday April 16, 2008 (not Tuesday as video recorded erred) around 10:00 P.M., in the downtown business district a disagreement broke out in an upscale restaurant and bar [ The Meeting Place ]where it appears someone got shot.

Detail of what happened, why, who and more is still vague but security guards said the victim died immediately but the DC police are keeping a tight lip.

Jonathan R. Rees

OH CAN YOU SEE THE HOLY FATHER

2008-04-16T11:56:00.004-04:00

As everybody knows, Pope Benedict XVI is in town and the security given him far exceeds that given most presidents or prime ministers from foregign countries.

We estimate that about 800 police officers making up the Secret Service, DC Police and Park Police are assigned to Pope Benedict XVI security detail as many streets are hard to pass by especially Massachusetts Ave NW.

Along the route where the Pope travels are supporters but also a lot of protestors holding sign about the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal.

Jonathan R. Rees

DC MADAM CONVICTED BY FEDERAL JURY

2008-04-16T00:47:00.003-04:00

A federal jury has found D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey guilty on all counts of racketeering and money laundering charges for running a prostitution ring.

Now the big question is, will she really go to prison.

Historically in DC, women convicted of prostitution and running a prostitution ring never get the maximum penalty but on the lower end.

Paulie Russo

THE NEW IRS PENCIL SHARPENER

2008-04-15T19:27:00.002-04:00

Are you sitting at home right now trying to finish up your federal and state income tax filings?

Well at least 15% of all Americans are home right now trying to finish up.

Remember to drop it in the mailbox no later than midnight.

Jonathan R. Rees

DC GOVERNMENT IGNORING THE POOR

2008-04-14T20:58:00.002-04:00

A report finds that nearly one in three working families in Washington is poor, and that the city government is paying too little attention to them.

The study by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute and the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice highlights the city's uneven progress as neighborhoods have been revitalized.

The study said that between 1998 and 2006, there was a 10 percent increase in the number of jobs in D.C. But the employment rate among D.C. adults with only a high-school degree dropped from 61 percent in 1999 to 51 percent in 2006.

The foregoing is no surprise as the DC government has been in cahoots with local developers to chase low income earners out of DC and make way for more yuppie white kids.

Do we really expect DC government to do anything to keep the poor in DC?

Albert Bartee

ALMOST CAME OUT OF THE HOSPITAL A BITCH

2008-04-14T10:51:00.003-04:00

John Doe was recently scheduled for surgery to have a tiny growth (1 inch) on his left lung removed surgically.

John Doe while being prep for surgery was being informed by the pre-surgical nurse what he can expect.

To John's surprise, the nurse said that he would be in the operating room for about 4 hours as the removal of a lung lobe takes that much time.

John freaked out and said I am not here to have my whole lung removed but only a 1 inch growth and the nurse said that is not what the chart here says.

John then asked to speak to the surgeon. The surgeon came and John then discovered that his surgeon had all the facts of his case wrong.

John then jumped up from the pre-op table, pulled out the tubes from his arm and said: "Fuck you Doc, I am outta here as I don't want to be another pre-op like Mayor Fenty".

The foregoing is a true story that took place in Metro DC this past week.

Paulie Russo

ARE YOU READY FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI

2008-04-13T22:40:00.002-04:00

As we all know, Pope Benedict XVI will be in DC this week and much will take place surrounding his visit including traffic jams.

The question many are asking is, are you ready for him?

Pope Benedict XVI is not Pope John Paul II and it will be interesting to see how Washingtonians respond to him.

Jonathan R. Rees

WHY DOCTORS PREFER ONE DRUG OVER ANOTHER

2008-04-13T18:34:00.003-04:00

If you have been diagnosed with cancer then you might be shocked to know that your doctors’ choices for treatment of you is rooted in what drug or procedure offers them the biggest profit margin.

The joint Michigan/Harvard study confirms medical oncologists choose cancer chemotherapy based on how much money the chemotherapy earns the medical oncologist.

This study adds to the "smoking gun" study of Dr. Neil Love ("Patterns of Care") on the subject.[1] The results of his survey show that for first-line chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer, 84-88% of the academic center-based oncologists prescribed an oral dose drug (capecitabine), while only 13% prescribed infusion drugs, and none of them prescribed the expensive, highly remunerative drug docetaxel.

In contrast, among the community-based oncologists, only 18% prescribed the oral dose drug (capecitabine), while 75% prescribed infusion drugs, and 29% prescribed the expensive, highly remunerative drug docetaxel. The existence of this profit motive in drug selection has been one of the major factors working against the individualization of cancer chemotherapy based on testing the cancer biology.

Once a decision to give chemo is taken, physicians receiving more-generous Medicare reimbursements used more-costly treatment regimens.

What was interesting about the "Patterns of Care" study was that it is contemporary, after the Medicare reform. It shows that the Medicare reforms haven't solved the problem. It's not that all oncologists are bad people. It's just an impossible conflict of interest, it's the system which is rotten. The solution is to change the system. So far, Medicare reform hasn't achieved that.

Two scientific, "evidence-based" studies giving a dose of reality.

The shift in the United States, more than 20 years ago, from the institution-based, inpatient setting to community-based, ambulatory sites for treating the majority of the nation's cancer patients has prompted in large part additional costs to the government and Medicare beneficiaries.

The Chemotherapy Concession gave oncologists the financial incentive to select certain forms of chemotherapy over others because they receive higher reimbursement.

This was first brought to attention at a Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee meeting in 1999, in Baltimore, Maryland. There was a gastroenterologist in attendance who complained that Medicare had cut his reimbursement for colonoscopies from $400 to $108 and how all the doctors in his large, multispecialty internal medicine group were hurting, save for two medical oncologists, whom he said were making a killing running their in-office retail pharmacies.

Typically, doctors give patients prescriptions for drugs that are then filled at pharmacies. But medical oncologists bought chemotherapy drugs themselves, often at prices discounted by drug manufacturers trying to sell more of their products, and then administered them intravenously to patients in their offices.

Not only do the medical oncologists have complete logistical, administrative, marketing, and financial control of the process, they also control the knowledge of the process. The result is that the medical oncologist selects the product, selects the vendor, decides the markup, conceals details of the transaction to the degree they wish, and delivers the product on their own terms including time, place, and modality.

The joint Michigan/Harvard study published in Health Affairs, to which we are writing in response, confirmed that before the new Medicare reform, medical oncologists are more likely to choose cancer drugs that earn them more money. A survey by Dr. Neil Love, published in Patterns of Care, produced results showing that the Medicare reforms have not solved the problem of variations in oncology practice.

A patient wants a physician's decision to be based on experience, clinical information, new basic science insights, and the like, not on how much money the doctor gets to keep. A patient should know if there are any financial incentives at work in determining what cancer drugs are being prescribed.

It's not that all medical oncologists are bad people. It's just that the system is rotten and still poses an impossible conflict of interest. Some oncologists prescribe chemotherapy drugs with equal efficacies and toxicities. I would imagine that some are influenced by the whole state of affairs, possibly without even entirely admitting it. Social science research shows that people can be biased by self-interest without being aware of it.

There are so many ways for humans to rationalize their behavior.

There is some innate goodness of people who go into oncology. At the time when most oncologists practicing today made the decision to become oncologists, there was no Chemotherapy Concession. Most of them probably had a personal life experience which created the calling to do battle against the great crab. At the time when people make their most important decisions in life, they are in the most idealitstic period of their lives.

The U.S. government wasn't reducing payment for cancer care under the new Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. It was simply reducing overpayment for chemotherapy drugs and paying cancer specialists the same as other physicians. The government can't afford to overpay for drugs, in an era where all these new drugs are being introduced, which are fantastically expensive.

Although the new Medicare bill tried to curtail the Chemotherapy Concession, private insurers still go along with it. What needs to be done is to remove the profit incentive from the choice of drug treatments. Medical oncologists should be taken out of the retail pharmacy business and allowed to be doctors again. The solution is not to put the doctors in jail; it's to change the system.

Jonathan R. Rees, Health Care Administrator
Kathleen Kravitz, Oncology Nurse
Gregory D. Pawelski, Health Care Advocate

NINETY (90) DAYS AND COUNTING

2008-04-13T00:19:00.001-04:00

It just a matter of 90 more days when one of the best movies is to hit theatres around the world!

Jonathan R. Rees

MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY

2008-04-12T20:43:00.003-04:00

Today doctors have a new catch phrase and that is, Minimally Invasive Surgery which is a deceptive term on its face.

Minimally Invasive Surgery takes advantage of new technologies to reduce the size of incision required for many traditional surgeries.

In most minimally invasive procedures, a tiny camera is inserted into the body through a small incision. The surgeon is able to view a video image of the surgical site on a screen and perform the procedure by manipulating tools inserted through very small incisions. The end result of this surgical technique is less pain, faster healing, reduced risk of infection, and shorter hospital stays.

The foregoing is true in theory but in practice it is not.

Once a surgeon goes forward to perform a Minimally Invasive Surgery procedure, you have no guarantee after the surgery is done of less pain, faster healing, reduced risk of infection, or shorter hospital stay.

In the truest sense, Minimally Invasive Surgery is surgery performed on the out-patient basis and you can go home the same day.

Anytime surgery is performed and you have to be placed in an Intensive Care Unit after surgery and remain in the hospital a few days, that is not Minimally Invasive Surgery but Major Surgery no matter what tools or technology is used.

Don’t let the catch phrase fool you as it is often a sheep in wolf’s clothing.

Kathleen Kravitz, RN

IF IT DOESN'T KILL YOU IT WILL......

2008-04-12T16:37:00.004-04:00

Allergy seaon is upon us and what is it that makes you crazy this time of year?

For most of you it is grass and mold but are over the counter preparations enough or should you be taking a visit to a local allergist who can sort it all out and put you back on track?

Kathleen Kravitz

THE MEASURES YOU GIVE WILL BE THE MEASURES YOU RECEIVE

2008-04-12T12:14:00.003-04:00

We at the Corrupt Ones 2008 Blog are here to stand up for the backbone of America and the poor against the tryanny of those who will cheat, exploit and dehumanize others for selfish profit.

Hate us, harasss us like DC Mayor Fenty and his police detail has done but we are not going away but will defeat you in time humbly and defeat you we will as we have repelled everything to date you have thrown at us.

Jonathan R. Rees

THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS SUCK

2008-04-12T10:57:00.002-04:00

DC should have left the Washington Nationals in Montreal as they are no better in DC than they were in Montreal.

As a matter of fact, we give the Washington Nationals just a little over five years before they leave DC for better waters.

The Washington Nationals will in time prove to have been a bad investment for DC all round.

Jonathan R. Rees

SHAKE UP AT THE DC METRO POLICE DEPT

2008-04-11T22:44:00.002-04:00

Chief Cathy Lanier of the Metropolitan DC Police Department is shifting her leadership around with the belief that it will improve things.

Read ► The Skake Up

The reality is, this is just window dressing and it will have no impact on the performance of the MPD.

Paulie Russo

THIS IS THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

2008-04-10T11:41:00.005-04:00

The Corrupt Ones 2008 blog will be on a small siesta while all of us rally around one of our own who will undergo surgery tomorrow for Cancer.

One (1) of every five (5) of us will be afflicted with Cancer but sadly too many of you do not have adequate health care coverage to survive it.

Isn't it time we demand of our elected leaders that all of us be assured of health care coverage so that nobody succumbs based on economic needs?

Kathleen Kravitz
Oncology Nurse

THE PASSOVER HOLIDAY

2008-04-10T00:44:00.002-04:00

Soon the Jewish Holiday of Passover will be upon us in another week and our two favorite Jewish cats Max Puddyman and Morton Puddyman are ready for the event.

What are you planning to do for Passover 2008?

Kathleen Kravitz

IS EVERYBODY ASLEEP

2008-04-10T00:39:00.002-04:00

The Government of the District of Columbia has been very quiet the last two weeks without getting itself in hot water or making a fool of itself.

Only DC Councilman Harry Thomas, Jr. has really been in the news by switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama but does that really amount to much?

Will somebody inside DC government do something stupid so I can write about it.

Kathleen Kravitz

IS JOHN FALCICCHIO VIOLATING THE HATCH ACT

2008-04-09T20:38:00.004-04:00

John Falcicchio, adviser to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, has taken a leave to work on the mayoral campaign of former NBA all-star Kevin Johnson.

What type of leave is Falcicchio taking from DC government and does this current gig violate the Hatch Act?

Read Story ► John Falcicchio

Jonathan R. Rees

IT IS A MIRACLE

2008-04-09T19:06:00.001-04:00

Today some of the other local blogs announced a TV spot headed by Shadow Senator Paul Strauss and actress and activist Hayden Panettiere to promote voting rights for the District of Columbia in Congress.

What is surprising to us are two things and they are: 1. This is one of the few times we have seen Shadow Senator Paul Strauss in public and actually sober; and 2. This is one of the few times we have seen Shadow Senator Paul Strauss in public with a woman he is not groping.

Paulie Russo

THINKING WITH THEIR DICK III

2008-04-09T02:25:00.003-04:00

Previously we wrote about how businessmen think with their dicks when it comes to the hiring process of their businesses, but thinking with their dicks often overlaps in much of their social activities especially if you catch these jokers at any local bar or restaurant where they feel their standing is a ticket to home plate.

We are talking about these men who will walk up boldly to a woman in a bar, offer to buy her a drink and then lay out their social standing hoping to be impressive enough that if you give them some late night TLC that there will be some reward for it.

Sadly, too many women in DC seek out men like this for what they call "Love With Benefits" and this perpetuates this mindset which perverts so much and makes it hard for good people to get a break or to be judged on their merits.

Kathleen Kravitz

AND THE SAGA NEVER ENDS

2008-04-09T02:20:00.003-04:00

Deborah Jeane Palfrey who is accused of running an upscale prostitution service for a white-collar clientele in the Washington area, went on trial in federal court this week.

This case surrounds not whether or not Palfrey ran a prostitution service but more of whether or not her operations was a money laundering operation.

Prostitution has become almost a joke in DC as it is seen by the average person not as a crime although it is still prosecuted as such.

Our guess is, "this" case might result in a hung jury - no pun intended.

Albert Bartee

DC GOVERNMENT SHOULD REFUND TAX PAYERS

2008-04-08T14:38:00.003-04:00

A newly released audit of D.C. government finances for 2007 showed the city ended the year with a surplus of $281 million ( $905 per adult tax payer).

An official document attached to the audit sharply criticized the Chief Financial Office run by longtime Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi.

The so-called "yellow book" report labeled the CFO's officer as a "material weakness" that, if not improved, could hurt the city's bond rating on Wall Street.

The Government of the District of Columbia should cut taxes across the board as a form of a refund to tax payers for the unneeded surplus.

Jonathan R. Rees

BRAINWASHED BABES

2008-04-08T10:28:00.003-04:00

For some guys it might seem like a dream come true to have a different woman every night but you can’t be married to them.

So goes the matter out in Texas with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where men were being married to multiple wives ranging in age from 15-45.

Sadly the foregoing is illegal but what if there had not been a marriage but just shacking up would the police have stepped in?

Let’s be honest with ourselves. How many guys would not want a harem of women to have fun with?

Case closed; it is all a matter of taste and distaste.

Paulie Russo

DUMB POLITICAL PICTURES

2008-04-07T22:55:00.003-04:00

Probably some of the dumbest political pictures we can look at is some ground breaking ceremony where our elected leaders are seen shoveling up dirt!

Do we really need to see these pictures and do they have any redeeming value to us?

Mad Man Manny

ARE YOU ALREADY BORED

2008-04-07T21:54:00.002-04:00

Has the Democratic primary for President of the United States of America become a bit boring to you of late?

Well, we think it has.

As a matter of fact, we feel this entire race for president is becoming a freak show and not worth watching on TV or reading about.

Is this any indication that we are facing four years of boredom?

Paulie Russo

MY MAYOR, MY PUNK ASS BITCH XI

2008-04-07T06:57:00.004-04:00

If you take a very close look at those things Mayor Adrian Fenty says he is doing for us, you will notice that it is all symbolic and will have little or no impact: E.g.

1. Suing landlords to stop abusive renting of 420 apartment units out of maybe 20,000 such units citywide;

2. Spending money to help out 1,750 homeless people when they are over 7,000 such people; and

3. More

The fact is, most of what Fenty is doing is doomed to fail, it will not change a thing and it is nothing less than acts to deceive voters and afford Fenty some more photo opportunities.

Voters need to see that Fenty is one of the biggest phonies to be mayor of the District of Columbia and replace him with someone who will really do things that will have major impact upon improving the lives of all.

Albert Bartee

KENTUCKY FRIED HEART ATTACK

2008-04-07T06:30:00.004-04:00

Most of us enjoy going out to eat our meals but what most of us do not realize is:

1. That most restaurants do not have clean facilities where our foods are being prepared;

2. That most restaurants use the lowest grade meats; and

3. That most restaurants use products to prepare the foods that are unhealthy;

The ugly truth is, most restaurants do not offer healthy eating but have contributed to obesity in America, higher cholesterol levels and other medical problems.

While we are not attempting to hurt our restaurant industry, people need to eat out less and more at home where healthier meals can be prepared and consumed.

Kathleen Kravitz

CHANGE ONLY YOU CAN CAUSE

2008-04-07T06:20:00.003-04:00

No matter who wins the presidency in November 2008 very little will change in America.

Sadly people believe that a change in president will bring substantial change where history proves that to be untrue.

Sure a few changes will take place but "Change" comes when voters become more active in pressuring their elected leaders to act, and when voters do a long list of things that cause the change.

Most people like talking about change, but only a small percentage of them will actually act to bring about the change they want.

Jonathan R. Rees

HERE COMES THE POPE

2008-04-07T06:04:00.002-04:00

The Metro DC area is gearing up for the arrival of Pope Benedict.

Most of what the Pope will do while in the Metro DC area is being reported by most of the newspapers and TV stations.

Catholics are a majority in the Metro DC area.

Paulie Russo

DC GOVERNMENT BANKING CHOICES

2008-04-06T20:28:00.003-04:00

How does the Government of the District of Columbia go about doing business with local banks? We mean, how do they chose to do business with one bank over another!

Do you know?

Are these deals on the up and up or are government officials being bribed to steer business to certain banks?

Stay tuned as we will give you the whole low down on the dirty deals cut behind closed doors.

Albert Bartee

IS HE A BAD ASS WHITE BOY OR WHAT

2008-04-06T16:53:00.000-04:00

Jonathan R. Rees

BEST CROCK OF SHIT EVERY HEARD

2008-04-06T13:06:00.001-04:00

In light of the rising gasoline prices, local gas station owners are claiming that they are not making a profit off of the $3.49 per gallon you are paying for gas but they have to rely upon you buying a soda, pack of cigarettes or something else.

Why does this claim smell like a crock of shit?

Mad Man Manny

GOING POSTAL ON YOUR BOSS

2008-04-06T07:58:00.003-04:00

Your boss filed his 2007 income tax return which showed a gross income of $375,000.00, he lives in a $2,000,000.00 home in Bethesda, the company is clearly in the black but he decides to lay you off from your lousy $33,000.00 a year job so he can have a bigger paycheck.

Should you go Postal on him?

Sure, why not. What better way to send a message to a greedy boss!

The proximate cause of our current economic down slide is the result of greedy people in the credit card, housing, oil and real estate industries who for the past eight (8) years got a wild hair in their ass and wreaked havoc on America.

So should Americans suffer because of a few or should these people be punished for what they did?

Yeah Congress demanded the heads of the oil industry to explain the high gas prices in light of record profits for the oil industry and record paychecks for the president and other high ranking executives. Now they should bring in the assholes who are making record profits in the credit card and housing industries to hear they sorry ass excuses.

With all of the layoffs taking place, it is just a matter of time before some people start going postal on their bosses but will anybody shed a tear over it?

Jonathan R. Rees

GENETIC LINK TO LUNG CANCER

2008-04-05T20:35:00.002-04:00

Scientists have pinpointed genetic variations that make people more likely to get hooked on cigarettes and more prone to develop lung cancer — a finding that could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit.

The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer.

"This is kind of a double whammy gene," said Christopher Amos, a professor of epidemiology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and author of one of the studies. "It also makes you more likely to be dependent on smoking and less likely to quit smoking."

For the past twenty years, more and more research has shown that there may be a genetic link to the developing of lung cancer and especially why non-smokers develop lung cancer.

With the advances in lung cancer treatment, most medical experts believe that in the next twenty (20) years that people will not be dying from lung cancer like they use to but lung cancer treatment will reach a state where it is just a chronic disease that can be controlled and not kill you.

Read Full Story ► Lung Cancer

Jonathan R. Rees

THE WORST PLACE TO WORK

2008-04-05T20:04:00.002-04:00

Where do you think is the worst place to work is?

Would you believe in a church office?

Well, that nice smiling clergyman you see every Friday, Saturday or Sunday may not behind the scenes be so nice but one of the worst bosses to have.

Catholics, Jews, Protestants and Muslims who have had the honor of working for the clergy find it is a fate worse than going to Hell because of a long string of reasons but more so because clergymen place too much emphasis on building up their weekly collection plates by pandering to every whim of their congregation and its individual members whether or not what they do is fair or right.

Also people who have worked for the clergy find most of them are phony, short tempered, materialistic and may only be in it for self-gratification and economic security.

In 2008 with all the clergymen who have gotten caught up in sex scandals, money scams and more, being a clergyman may no longer be an honor and definitely not so when 50% of the population sees organized religion as big business.

Kathleen Kravitz

YOUR LIFE IN THE LATE 1960's

2008-04-05T10:15:00.001-04:00

If you remember this group then you are old but wise.

Jonathan R. Rees

THINKING WITH THEIR DICK II

2008-04-05T07:11:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we wrote that women have a sizeable advantage in the job market over men in positions that were once held by men because business leaders/owners who are mainly men allow their dicks to decide who to hire, and that hire usually is a woman who the employer is sexually aroused by.

A new brain-scan study may help explain what’s going on in the minds of financial titans when they take risky monetary gambles — sex.

When young men were shown erotic pictures, they were more likely to make a larger financial gamble than if they were shown a picture of something scary, such a snake, or something neutral, such as a stapler, university researchers reported.

The arousing pictures lit up the same part of the brain that lights up when financial risks are taken.

“You have a need in an evolutionary sense for both money and women. They trigger the same brain area,” said Camelia Kuhnen, a Northwestern University finance professor who conducted the study with a Stanford University psychologist.

Their research appears in the current edition of the peer-reviewed journal Neuro Report.

The brain's sex and money hub:

The study only involved 15 heterosexual young men at Stanford University. It focused on the sex and money hub, the V-shaped nucleus accumbens, which sits near the base of the brain and plays a central role in what you experience as pleasure.

When that hub was activated by the erotic images, the men were far more likely to bet high on a random chance game that would earn them either a dollar or a dime. Each man made more than 50 gambles under brain scans.

Stanford psychologist Brian Knutson, a lead author of the study, says it’s all about the power of emotion and arousal and our financial decisions. The trigger doesn’t have to be sex — it could be chocolate or a winning lottery ticket.

“It didn’t matter if the sexy woman didn’t tell you anything about the odds of winning a roulette game,” Knutson said. “What really matters is that the sexy woman is having an emotional impact. That bleeds over into your financial decisions.”

Kuhnen said the same link could hold true for women, but they didn’t test it because it is more difficult to find an erotic image that would appeal to many different heterosexual women compared to heterosexual men.

The link between sex and greed goes back hundreds of thousands of years, to men’s evolutionary role as provider or resource gatherer to attract women, said Kevin McCabe, professor of economics, law and neuroscience at George Mason University, who wasn’t part of the study.

“Risk-taking is a natural way of increasing your relative success, but, of course, there’s a downside to it, what we’re seeing right now in the economy,” McCabe said.

The results of the study jibe with the real life on the trading floor, said Phil Flynn, a former Chicago commodities floor trader and current analyst at Alaron Trading Corp.

“I’m not shocked that it may be part of the deal,” Flynn said Friday. “When you talk about all the euphemisms for trading (on the floor), they can be used for sex as well.”

(“Massaging the market” and “hardcore” were about the cleanest that he and his colleagues could come up with.)

Similar findings:

The study conforms with recent research that indicates men shown a pornographic movie were more likely to make riskier sexual decisions. Another suggests straight men think less about their financial future after being shown pictures of pretty women.

One still-to-be-published study at Harvard University found a link between higher testosterone levels and financial risk-taking.

But the study conducted at Stanford, funded by the National Institutes of Health, went deeper, using functional magnetic resonance imaging machines. It’s part of a new but growing field called neuroeconomics that attempts to take the hard-wired science of brain biology and mix it with the softer sciences of psychology and economics to figure out why we make the financial decisions we do.

An earlier study by the same team found that the brain’s reward area lit up at about the same time as risky decision-making.

The erotic pictures experiment was designed to find which was the cause and which was the effect. The answer: Lighting up the reward area, in this case with soft-core pictures, caused the risk-taking, Kuhnen said.

“The more activation there you have, the more prone you are to taking more risk,” Kuhnen said. “It could be a feedback loop.”

The flip side was that the photos of snakes and spiders activated the portion of the brain often associated with pain, fear and anger. And those people were more likely to bet low.

This all makes sense to Harvard economist Terry Burnham, author of the book “Mean Genes.” Burnham said it could be all summed up in a famous line from the movie “Scarface.”

“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”

Kathleen Kravitz

RISING UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

2008-04-05T06:45:00.002-04:00

The US unemployment rate rose in March 2008 to 5.1% from 4.8%.

In other words, 80,000 Americans lost their job in March 2008, and this number will rise.

We expect the unemployment rate to hit 6.0% by November 2008.

In DC, the restaurant industry is the hardest hit industry with housing start-ups following in second place.

Jonathan R. Rees

NAME THAT SLUMLORD

2008-04-04T22:48:00.001-04:00

The District is going after dozens of suspected slumlords.

The city filed a lawsuit Friday against 23 property owners with a history of serious code violations.

The complaint names more than 70 building across seven wards of the city.

The lawsuit asked the D.C. Superior Court to appoint receivers to manage 13 of the buildings and assure repairs.

The court-appointed receiver, not the owner, would collect rent and use it to repair the housing-code violations.

If these slum properties are actually put into receivership it would be a big plus but the process may take years if the landlords decide to fight back in court with no guarantee the city will win every case.

Jonathan R. Rees

THINKING WITH THEIR DICKS

2008-04-04T11:20:00.002-04:00

In the District of Columbia women have a lower unemployment rate than men.

In the District of Columbia this lower unemployment rate for women is the result of business leaders and owners mostly men who think with their dicks.

Jobs like Executive Assistant, Office Manager and other jobs that historically were held down by men are now being snatched up by women.

Women in DC know that they can use their sex appeal to land a job by flashing some cleavage, more legs, tighter pants and other things and it is all intentional.

Sure businessmen know that they can hire a woman to do the job for less than a man but that is only half the issue. The other half is looks.

Sadly human sexuality which should have no place in the hiring process does and does so heavily whether anybody wants to admit it.

Look around you at how much money and time women put into their looks and that should tell you the name of the game.

Okay you have the minimal requirements for the job but add sex appeal and you will increase your chance over any a Plain Jane.

Sex sells on all avenues in life but it might be worse in DC when it comes to getting a job.

Women bosses are not swayed by sex appeal like men bosses are.

Kathleen Kravitz

THE POTHOLE KING II

2008-04-04T00:19:00.003-04:00

Earlier we reported about twenty five (25) very large potholes along University Terrace NW to mock Mayor Adrian Fenty's claims as to how many potholes his administration had fixed.

Last Thursday I put in a call to the office of DC Councilwoman Mary M. Cheh and asked her office to do what Mayor Fenty had failed to.

Today, a week later, all twenty five (25) potholes on University Terrace NW had been filled.

Thank you Mary Cheh!

Paulie Russo

ANOTHER WORTHLESS PROMISE FROM DC GOVERNMENT

2008-04-02T21:57:00.002-04:00

D.C. officials are launching an effort aimed at chronic homelessness that would provide permanent housing and extensive social services for some of the city's "most vulnerable" homeless people.

Mayor Adrian Fenty says the city will create a $19.2 million fund for the program, called Housing First that would be supported by the lease or sale of some city properties.

Officials say the program can reduce the chronically homeless population, estimated at 1,750, by 23 percent and decrease the number of homeless families in emergency care, estimated at 191, by 42 percent. They plan to find housing within six months for 480 of the city's most vulnerable homeless people and those who have been in shelters the longest.

This sounds again like utter bullshit.

Former mayor Anthony Williams had a plan that was suppose to wipe out homelessness in ten (10) years but nothing came of it.

DC’s homeless population is about 7,000 not 1,750 and thus DC officials will fail in this effort if they are budgeting for 1,750 not 7,000.

Let's just chalk this up to more bullshit coming from a government that has promised since 1980 that it would wipe up homelessness in DC only for the homeless population to grow with each year not shrink.

Jonathan R. Rees

MY MAYOR, MY PUNK ASS BITCH X

2008-04-02T15:56:00.003-04:00

The US Government wanted so badly to arrest Al Capone for his lucrative bootlegging operations but could never seem to get the goods on him. Finally they put Capone out of business on a lesser charge; namely, income tax invasion.

The US Government wanted so badly to arrest DC Mayor Marion Barry for his lucrative bid-rigging and other nefarious dealings but could never get the goods on him. Finally they put Barry out of business sort to say as mayor on a lesser charge; namely, possession of Crack cocaine.

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty is clearly guilty of having rigged the 2006 mayoral and other political races and a hoard of other nefarious dealings but what will the US Government bring him down on?

We can’t wait!

Albert Bartee

SO HOW DEEP WILL THE RECESSION BE

2008-04-02T15:37:00.004-04:00

Today Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made it clear that we are clearly heading into a recession, but I was warning people about that in late 2005 although I was laughed at.

The upcoming, full blown recession will last a lot longer than the Fed is willing to admit, but I estimate that it will continue into 2010 before it begins turning around.

A good question is what impact will this recession have on the DC government coiffures?

I believe that the DC government will take in less tax revenue than they realize or now project, and this will cause problems and become a possible issue to attack Mayor Adrian Fenty on; namely, his administration's miscalculations.

Let’s see if I am right again but if Natwhar Gandhi could not see those $50 million dollars being stolen, how can he see anything else clearly.

Jonathan R. Rees

VERY FEW BOSSES IN DC MATCH UP WITH THE NATIONAL AVERAGE

2008-04-02T10:01:00.006-04:00

Most bosses in DC are flaming assholes and the proximate cause of why their businesses do not grow at the same rate as their counterparts around the country.

Maybe, just maybe 1 of every 100 bosses/business owners have the Top 10 Traits of a good and succesful boss. Those traits are:

●Communication/listening skills
●Effective leadership skills
●Trust in employees to do their jobs well
●Flexibility and understanding
●Intelligence
●Teamwork skills and even temperament (tie)
●Interest in employee development
●Ability to share credit
●Successful in finding and retaining new talent
●Presentation skills

The first sign that you are dealing with a loser of a boss or company is when he/they advertise a job but take more that 14 days to fill it.

The second sign that you are dealing with a loser of a boss or company is when he/they make the job application process tedious.

The third sign that you are dealing with a loser of a boss or company is when you arrive for an interview and the interviewer cannot remember your name and/or has misplaced your Resume.

The worst sign that you are dealing with a loser of a boss or company is when you know you saw that job ad just a few weeks ago, it disappeared and now it is back.

The District of Columbia gets the Academy Award for Asshole Bosses.

Jonathan R. Rees

SMELLS LIKE THE SAME OLD BULLSHIT

2008-04-02T08:44:00.002-04:00

The DC City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create new oversight of public-private land agreements, in an effort to ensure that developers keep promises to build affordable housing, meet environmental standards, hire District workers and involve local and disadvantaged businesses when they receive public land or financing.

Over the years, the D.C. City Council has enacted tons of legislation similar in whole or in part to what they are now doing, and if history has taught us anything, it has taught us that such legislation and oversight have been paper tigers.

The reality is, the DC City Council has allowed developers and landlords to rape renters for the last twenty five (25) years, oversight in reality has been minimal, enforcement has been pathetic and this is why we are in the mess we are.

More importantly, since members of our DC City Council get upwards of 80% of their campaign funding from developers, landlords and their employees does anybody take the council seriously when it says it is going to do something good for the renter?

Paulie Russo

FENTY’S WELFARE BAILOUT FOR LOCAL DEVELOPERS

2008-04-01T20:57:00.002-04:00

Today, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced that $2.8 billion dollars will be spent on our children, their education and more.

See the budget ► Budget

A careful analysis of this proposed budget shows itself to be in fact a bail out program to benefit developers and others who are suppose to build new schools, re-build old schools, provide materials to our schools, and to provide other services but little or any of it is designated to improve student performance or to improve the social standing of our children.

Voters need to read between the lines and they will see massive pork and a bail out for the local, sagging economy affecting developers.

Jonathan R. Rees

EATING YOURSELF INTO THE POOR HOUSE

2008-04-01T18:52:00.003-04:00

Throughout DC, more and more people are watching what they spend on food at the grocery store as the cost of food has been rising due to many reasons and not just the cost add on due to rising gasoline prices.

This increase in the cost of food and other matters has also had an impact on the restaurant industry which has seen less and less people dining out, ordering food for delivery and when they do, the sales amount per order has dropped as well as tips.

So what next?

It is going to get worse before it gets better.

Jonathan R. Rees

YOUR BOSS IS AN ASSHOLE & YOUR OFFICE DYSFUNCTIONAL

2008-04-01T18:01:00.003-04:00

Most businesses in the District of Columbia are far more dysfunctional than the office you see on the hit TV show “The Office”.

Why is that so?

Most businesses in the District of Columbia are poorly organized, wasteful of resources and time, do not hire the most qualified candidates but try to get by on The Cheap, are not as profitable as comparable businesses in other major cities of the like and a long list of other dysfunctional behavior by owners and management.

It is this dysfunctional mind-set of the business community in the District of Columbia why many businesses do not want to locate near DC but opt for better waters with better candidates to fill the needs of growth.

Sadly, DC has too many egomaniacs who think they are all that and more when in fact they are neither and the overall mentality of the DC work force is not conducive to anything more than an army of brainless, paper pushers who talk a good game.

The problem all starts at the hiring process.

Steve Forbes of Forbes Magazine points out that 90% of the people hired were by far not the most qualified candidates, hiring too often is done for reasons other than to pick someone who can do the job and those charged to do the hiring are not qualified most of the time to do that job. Forbes says our priorities are messed up and they are not getting better and this is why the USA is quickly losing ground to Asia and Europe in quality, quantity and speed of products and services.

Is there a solution to the dysfunctional offices of the District of Columbia probably yes, but it will have to start by employers not dragging their feet in hiring, stop the cronyism in the hiring process and demanding more as well as penalizing losers.

Jonathan R. Rees

TV & NEWS

2008-04-01T10:44:00.002-04:00

When most residents of the District of Columbia go home at night and turn on their TVs, what do they watch?

We ask people about their viewing habits as its concerns "The News" and we were not surprised to learn that 80% of the people we surveyed do not watch the local news telecasts but only that of the national news.

As a matter of fact, most news agencies are focusing more and more on national stories not local ones as reflected in the Washington Post, Washington Times and others.

Can it be that people are bored or not interested in local news? Well, our findings suggest yes!

Kathleen Kravitz

HE USE TO HAVE CREDIBILITY

2008-04-01T06:20:00.004-04:00

NBC 4 political news reporter Tom Sherwood use to have a great degree of credibility but lost that credibility when it became known that he was going to do a story about DC Mayor Adrian Fenty having engaged in violence against his wife when Fenty was a city councilman, but then chickened out.

While a good number of people still listen to Tom Sherwood, an equal number of people have stopped listening to him and no longer see him as being honorable, but another reporter who picks and choices his stories based upon what is political expedient. Sherwood n order to get back viewers and his credibility is going to have to explain why he backed off an important story about domestic violence engaged in by an elected leader.

Sadly, too many news reporters are no longer doing what is right but are often deceiving the public like David Nakamura of the Washington Post.

Paulie Russo

WHO IS THE DADDY

2008-04-01T05:48:00.003-04:00

Most of our TV talk shows, courtroom shows and other shows seem bent on programming centered around establishing the paternity of a child normally brought by a woman who is attempting to obtain child support.

Sadly, many of these women are proven on these shows to have picked the wrong man who is the father.

What does this say? It says we have a lot of sluts running around.

Hasn't America had enough of these paternity shows and who cares who the daddy is?

Kathleen Kravitz

A DC LAWYER SEEKING SEX WITH A 13 YEAR OLD IS ARRESTED

2008-03-31T21:51:00.004-04:00

Adam Bryant an attorney and consultant with KPMG was arrested by local law enforcement officials when attempting to solicit sex with what he believed was a 13 year old girl.

Read Story ► The Story

There are so many Child Molesters in DC that DC, Maryland and Virginia have a joint task force to catch all the perverts running loose.

Mad Man Manny

DEEP IN DEBT AND GOING DEEPER

2008-03-31T21:33:00.003-04:00

It is estimated that outside of the debt a person owes on their home, 90% of the American population is in debt to the tune of $8,7000.00 per person on an average.

Most of these debts owed are owed to credit card companies and at least 15% of the debt level is for late fees and other fees when you overshoot the credit ceiling or for allowing you to over extend.

The indebtedness of Americans keeps climbing and sooner or later the Feds might have to start cracking down on credit card companies who are hurting the economy.

Jonathan R. Rees

GOOD IDEA FROM THE GAYFATHER CATANIA

2008-03-31T19:25:00.004-04:00

D.C. City Councilman David Catania is proposing a plan that would provide health insurance for about 30,000 uninsured citizens.

Under his plan, the city and insurance companies would subsidize programs to make basic health insurance affordable for uninsured people.

The idea is that affordable health care can help prevent more expensive problems later.

Catania's plan would double the cigarette tax to $2 per pack to help pay for the program. If it passes, the city government would be one of the first in the country to begin such a program.

Catania said there is still a lot of work to do to get private companies to support the plan.

We support Catania's plan 100% as something long over due, trend setting and clearly a rib on the body of social justice.

Jonathan R. Rees