Pro-choice activists went on the offensive this week after one of their own got dressed down by a flight crew for donning what American Airlines personnel deemed to be an over-the-top T-shirt.
John Scofield, the one-time mouthpiece for the Congressional committee tasked with burning through money, was back in the news this week. Only this time he let his cooking do all the talking.
The former communications director for the House Appropriation Committee, who has since co-founded his own government relations shop (Shockey Scofield Solutions), was declared one of the winners of the Washington Post’s second annual Smoke Signals Barbecue Sauce Contest, clinching top honors in the “alternative” category. Full story
The house where the legendary 1972 porn “Deep Throat” was filmed is now on the market in Miami, Fla., the real estate blog Zwillow reports.
“Deep Throat,” of course, was also the codename given to Mark Felt, the famous Watergate whistle blower. The house is priced to sell at $1.75 million. Demolition is allowed.
For fans of classic adult film, you might be pleased to know that the rooms where the film’s star, Linda Lovelace, found the cure to what ailed her are still pretty recognizable. Full story
First lady Michelle Obama has been calling on kids and parents to climb aboard the healthy-eating bandwagon for years now.
This time she’s sweetening the pot by welcoming would-be chefs to Washington, D.C., for a Kids’ “State Dinner” — the top prize in her Healthy Lunchtime Challenge recipe contest.
The promotion, being run in conjunction with Epicurious magazine, is an offshoot of Obama’s ongoing “Let’s Move” campaign.
Kids 8 to 12 years old are invited to submit one original lunch recipe — to be graded according to: nutritional content (50 percent), taste (25 percent), creativity (15 percent), affordability (5 percent) and back story (5 percent) — between now and June 17. Full story
Chicago residents: The next time you receive a package, closely ogle the delivery guy. He might be your Congressman.
During his weeks back in his district, Rep. Mike Quigley hits the streets of the Windy City to go undercover.
The Democrat was sworn in to office in April 2009, and not long after he came up with the idea for the “Undercover Congressman,” which would be a cross between the television programs “Undercover Boss” and “Dirty Jobs” — except in real life. Full story
Democrats get ready! Local tea party folks plan to greet those attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., with some serious political verbiage — at least the ones arriving via the highway. Full story
The U. S. Capitol Page Alumni Association starts rolling into town today for a reunion weekend jam-packed with educational activities and nostalgia-stoking get-togethers. Too bad most of Congress won’t be around to participate.
The “Page Alumni Homecoming” not only falls on a long weekend — Memorial Day, for you noncalendar watchers — but also smack-dab between rolling recesses (the House returns just as the Senate skips town) that have kept lawmakers from the two chambers on different pages, so to speak, throughout most of the 112th Congress. Full story
Last Thursday, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) stoked the birthers when he said President Barack Obama wasn’t American, at least not in his heart, and he’s been walking back, or sideways or forward, from the statement since.
“I don’t know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America,” Coffman told a friendly audience in Albert County, Colo., according to Colorado’s 9News. “I don’t know that, but I do know this, that in his heart, he’s not an American. He’s just not an American.”
The audio recording was obtained by 9News. Coffman followed up by releasing a statement apologizing and claiming that he misspoke.
“I have confidence in President Obama’s citizenship and legitimacy as president of the United States,” he said.
However, Coffman was a bit vague about whom the apology was directed to, and so the local news folks wanted to do a follow-up of their own.
On Tuesday, 9News asked the Congressman to clarify, while Coffman did his best not to clarify. Full story
Unless the Library of Congress knows something we don’t, the hip-hop classic “Rapper’s Delight” was recorded by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979 and not by the late great Donna Summer in 1977.
Obviously, the LOC knows that, but the first sentence of its Wednesday morning statement is just a smidge confusing:
“The voices of former slaves, the sounds of Native American culture, the creative wordplay of ‘Rapper’s Delight,’ Donna Summer’s electric 1977 hit and the only surviving recording of a stage icon are among the sound recordings selected for induction into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.”
The LOC, and the news outlets that lifted the sentence, obviously meant that both the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Donna Summer’s 1977 disco classic, “I Feel Love,” will be saved for posterity.
Oh, awkward sentence structure, how awkward you make things.
The LOC is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the National Recording Registry.
“Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today selected 25 sound recordings that will be preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures for generations to come.”
Check out some of the other recordings that made the registry after the jump.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) drew a crowd Tuesday afternoon while carrying Dakota, his loyal canine companion, down the escalator toward the Capitol subway. Dakota has been undergoing treatment for cancer, making fewer appearances in the Capitol since the fall.
Convention friends and gun enthusiasts, rejoice! If you’re heading to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., in August and planning to hang out in the designated protest zone, the Tampa City Council has cleared the way for you to pack heat.
Whether busy dressing down Republican presidential hopefuls on cable news, gushing about her love for all-things-men to Playboy, or opening up about passing joints around the table at dinner parties (stay tuned), Meghan McCain lives her life very much out loud.
Yet we were still a little surprised to discover the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) once spent the holidays with gross-out comedian Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling.
Martling, a longtime contributor to the “Howard Stern Show” and now a satellite radio show host (“Jackie’s Joke Hunt” airs at 7 p.m. EST Tuesdays on SiriusXM’s Howard 101), confirmed to HOH that he, McCain and several other friends celebrated Thanksgiving together in 2007:
Nearly every American — including 82 percent of American Catholics — thinks birth control, and the people who use it, are all right by them.
In a Gallup poll released today, 89 percent of American adults and 90 percent of non-Catholics think using birth control is morally acceptable. Just 8 percent of American adults believe that people who use contraceptives are moral ingrates. Full story
During debate Monday on an Iran sanctions bill, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) poked fun at the inclusion of language saying the bill wouldn’t authorize military force against Syria, a different country, by suggesting adding Brazil and Canada to the list — and then taking a shot at Canadian NHL teams.
“I wonder if we ought to include Canada and maybe Brazil and other countries along with that, since this resolution contemplates in no way anything concerning Syria, but I guess we could probably throw it in,” McCain said.
“However, I will not ask for a unanimous consent to amend to add Canada, although the Canadians are very upset because they have no teams in the finals of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup championship series,” McCain added. Full story
