Ignorant in the Classic Sense The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) and its union, IAFF Local 2068, continue to be roiled by controversy, most recently from the twin shocks of the resignation of Battalion Chief Kathleen Stanley from her role as a Women’s Program Officer and from notice of the retirement of fire […]

War needs neither cohesion, organization nor centralized purpose to levy a terrible price. Our American war is fought one-sidedly with high-capacity magazine weaponry made possible because of the “sacred” principle of unfettered gun ownership so, oddly, we fight simply for the right to maim and kill at will. Even more bizarre, in a nation which […]

Walsh Comes Within a Whisker of 50% The results of the snap election to fill Kelly Fox’s board seat in the IAFF’s 7th district are in. Ricky Walsh garnered over 5,100, Ryan Mudie around 4,200 and Greg Womack about 900. Walsh needed only 57 votes for an outright 50% majority but a run-off election between […]

National World War II Memorial

One Hell of an Omelet After seven years as a DC city guide I have long since grown accustomed to clients arriving here with some odd notions about touring, including some strange itineraries; this week, though, was a keeper. Here’s an (obvious) tip: the closer you stay to the city the more time you have […]

We Will, Of Course A reader asked the question regarding a possible legal action filed against IAFF President for Life and Our Dear Leader (ODL) Harold Schaitberger. Given what we know about how Our Dear Leader operates, it’s quite likely that the same firm representing the IAFF would also represent him; possibly even the same […]

Washington has many impressive interior spaces and one of the best is the rotunda of the west building of the National Gallery of Art, designed by architect John Russell Pope who also created the National Archives on Pennsylvania ave., as well as the Jefferson Memorial.      

IslaFire Weighs In “The lack of an endorsement for POTUS is truly embarrassing and may forebode a difficult time when HRC is elected. The excuses I heard behind the scenes at Convention were silly and lacked substantive leadership. Our International, our State Associations, our Locals, all endorse candidates that are sometimes distasteful to the membership. […]

If True? I’m all about giving the benefit of the doubt but these folks who still qualify their concern by saying “If True” regarding the great IAFF/MDA rip-off are pretty amazing. Here’s why. No one, to my knowledge, has ever denied that the IAFF received $1,400,000 from MDA in 2015. Even an MDA coordinator confirmed […]

Trump in 54 Seconds: “Get the Baby Out of Here” Forget the Ukraine, Crimea or Russia. Or whether or not he trashes women or people of color or folks with disabilities. A crying kid in Ashburn, Virginia, sums up the utter strangeness of the craziest candidate since Andrew Jackson. Trump calls attention to the crying […]