Delaware Senator Joe Biden is attempting to secure a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only US presidential candidate in history to run his entire campaign with his foot in his mouth.

Day 1 for Biden has consisted of trying to explain calling Barack Obama,…”the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy…,” a statement that immediately sparks flashbacks of Biden talking about Indian Americans, and Biden calling his Delawarean forefathers stupid racists.

Add that little gem about Obama to the fact Biden is already tearing apart the other Democratic candidates’ plans for the Iraq War, which is pretty ironic considering his plan was totally rejected by the Iraq Study Group Report as pointed out here. And just to be crystal clear, let’s recap what the ISG said about Biden’s plan of dividing Iraq into 3 religious regions:

“…we do not believe the United States should support this course as a policy goal or impose this out come on the Iraqi State.” - Iraq Study Group Report, page 39

Biden, seemingly undaunted by the report, had this to say about his plan for Iraq today:

“I would respectfully suggest to you that the Democrats out there understand I am the only person out there with a plan that can get us out of Iraq.” -Joe Biden

(I guess that would be “Democrats out there” other than Lee Hamilton, Leon Panetta, Charles Robb and *cough* Vernon Jordon.)

So Day 1 of Biden’s campaign has been eventful, and it gets him 1 day closer to an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. If this record attempt fails, there’s always another run for the Senate, but that campaign record for “foot in the mouth” will be hard to beat, it’s currently being held by former Virginia Senator George Allen.

The hottest topic in recent days has been the murder near Rehoboth Beach. We are told by police that last Friday in broad daylight, two armed thugs enter a home in the upscale Stable Farms development, and shoot to death the homeowner, 45 year old Paula Grossi. Two witnesses were in the home at the time, Paula’s son and a female friend. The two claim the killers “bound them” and ransacked the house before leaving. Police tell us, that after freeing themselves 911 was called and the police responded at 12:52 pm. State Police Sgt. Joshua Bushweller admits to WGMD some interesting facts, or lack of facts depending on your point of view.

1. No vehicle was seen or identified by anyone

2. Something was taken from the Grossi home, but police refuse to say what.

3. The story does not sound suspicious to the police at this time, and the story and description of the two assailants is being taken very seriously.

4. A somewhat detailed description has been released but no artist sketch of the suspects is available at this time. (four days later)

5. Suspect number one is described as white male 20-25, 5’ 7”, 160-170 lbs., black facial hair (unshaven). Wearing a wool hat, hooded jacket and white gloves.

6. Suspect number two is described as a white male about 40, 5’6”, 200 lbs with a small tattoo under his left eye. Wearing black overalls, brown construction boots, and dark gloves.

Police haven’t said what kind of tattoo under the eye. I wonder if it was a black teardrop? WGMD has also learned that the victim, Paula Grossi, cared for her two and a half year old grandson, and petitioned in Family Court for guardianship of the boy from her daughter Trisha Grossi. This petition was filed last June.

Speculation and unease abound over this very rare/unusual crime. Rare for here, and unusual that two total strangers enter and commit murder. (Perhaps these guys are only strangers to the witnesses. Did Paula know her killer?) Why would killers shoot this woman, and leave two witnesses? Why did the killers bind the two witnesses? What would lure these guys into the house; did she keep a lot of money around? (There is some talk of a safe in the house) Do the police really believe the witnesses story or are they just playing along to catch information from another suspect?

Many good State Police are working this case; I wish them all the best of luck in solving this. We don’t need another unsolved mystery around here.

Click this link to hear the latest from the police on WGMD.com

Why do the good people of Delmarva fear snow?

What is it about the white puffy moisture that causes so many people to fear for their lives? Why does normal life come to a complete end on this peninsula every time a stupid weatherman mentions that unmentionable,….”Chance of Snow”?

Like a flock of screaming children at recess, you run to the supermarkets, mini-markets and roadside stands to purchase Milk, Eggs, Bread and Toilet Paper. OK, so this leaves me to believe that the fear of snow brings about the massive hankering for French Toast which you apparently don’t have the digestive tract to properly handle, hence the toilet paper.

Question: When was the last time people in this area were literally ’snowed-in’ so bad that they were unable to leave their home because of the high snow? When was the last time the roads were so un-navigable that nobody, and I mean nobody, was able to drive including Police, EMS and newspaper delivery people? How many of you live so far from civilization that if you were snowed in and ran out of toilet paper, you would be too far away to walk to a neighbor’s house and borrow some? And finally, why are the elements to make French Toast so important to you in the event of snow?

I was transferred to North Carolina some years ago by the retail company I worked for at the time. My store was in Hanes Mall in Winston Salem, we lived in a tiny town called Advance. Our first winter there was the worst in anyone’s memory. The snow wasn’t so bad, it measured almost 12 inches, but the following ice storm took out power lines all over the area. We were without power for 5 days. Since the state had very little snow in this area, local municipalities never felt the need to purchase snow plows or even road salt. Being from Pennsylvania, I was accustomed to driving in heavy snow and easily drove to and from work while many stayed home to wait it out. In our home, no electricity meant no cooking, we had an electric oven. We did have a fireplace and actually made some stew in it as well as heated up leftovers and such. Mostly, we ate out during the outage. The locals, who were not used to driving in snow made the most of it by working together. Farmers drove their big tractors around to neighbor’s homes, seeking lists of needed supplies before driving to the local filling station/mini-market. Folks with 4-wheel drive or who were brave ventured to Mocksville, to the supermarkets, armed with many shopping lists, especially for the elderly.

People just automatically came together to help one another in the ‘crisis’ as I believe they would here as well! They also used the time to play. A neighbor with a four-wheeler stopped by our home to let the kids grab their sleds and hold a rope as he pulled them through the neighborhood. He told us of a plan to gather at the top of a local road which had a nice hill for sledding that night. We drove (much to their astonishment) instead of walking the 3 miles with our sleds. They had a huge bonfire and a large farm tractor which would drive down the hill with a huge tow-rope, pulling the kids back up the hill so they could have more fun without getting so tired of the reverse trek.

But here, well, that’s a different story. As some of you may know, I run nearly 2 dozen weekly trivia gameshows at local (and not-so-local) restaurants and other venues. One such venue is a new game inside the private gated community, The Peninsula. For our premiere event last Sunday the staff had acquired reservations for more than 50 people to sit in a nice restaurant inside their community, with a warm fire, protected by a back-up generator, where their was plenty of eggs, bread and milk as well as a supply closet full of toilet paper, and enjoy a trivia game with a house-cash prize. Slowly but surely these reservations cancelled one-by-one until we had but one team left for the game. Why? “Chance of snow.”

By the end of the game that first massive snowfall of 2007 had grown to nearly an inch with ‘bitter’ temps in the upper 20’s and virtually no wind. Why should such a minor meteorological event prevent people from going out to have a good time? Why do we scare so easily? I don’t let such occurrences prevent me from events. When I was young I didn’t let blizzards prevent me from honoring my commitment to a girlfriend for a date to the movies. Why should I start fearing the white fluff now?

My final point is to encourage you folks to stop being so scared of your own shadows! You have to live your life to enjoy it. Your end will come, but here on Delmarva it is very unlikely it will be caused by hunger due to a snowstorm. Get out and live!

Since we have one more blindingly long week before the Super Bowl, I thought we could check out the other football (soccer).

The latest Yank to go to Fulham, Clint “Deuce” Dempsey, made his English Premiership debut last weekend and here is a very short highlight clip of Dempsey in action. This weekend, he took his first shot on goal.

Meanwhile, David Beckham was preparing for his move to Los Angeles by jumping on a white horse and slaying a dragon.

Dr Abdul Majid Katme from the Islamic Medical Association has deemed most vaccines “unlawful” under Islam and is warning British Muslims not to get their children vaccinated.

“Many vaccines, especially those given to children, are full of haram substances — human parts, gelatine from pork, alcohol, animal/monkey parts, all coming from the West who do not have knowledge of halal or haram. It is forbidden in Islam to have any of these haram substances in our bodies.” -Abdul Majid Katme

In a community that already has a “lower than average” immunization rate, this message is tragic. And Great Britain isn’t the only place this is going on:

In Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India, Muslims have refused to be immunised against polio after being told that the vaccines contain products that the West has deliberately added to make the recipients infertile.

And what is Dr Katme’s alternative to fighting diseases like polio via vaccine?

He argued that leading “Islamically healthy lives” would be enough to ward off illnesses and diseases.

“You see, God created us perfect and with a very strong defence system. If you breast-feed your child for two years — as the Koran says — and you eat Koranic food like olives and black seed, and you do ablution each time you pray, then you will have a strong defence system,” he said.

And Dr Katme is right, that’s why the Islamic world was spared the horror of the plague. (Now if you didn’t bother to access that link, and you have a sketchy grasp of history, you won’t know that last sentence was totally scarcastic).

I just need a quick minute here to vent my frustration at Senator Joe Biden. Biden has taken a tough stance against President Bush’s “troop surge” plan. I wonder if he’s taken the time to read the Iraq Study Group Report? You know, the little paperback that totally trashed Biden’s brilliant idea of dividing Iraq into 3 parts.

Since I’ve actually taken the time to read the Report, let me review parts of it for Senator Biden and some of his slower buddies in the Senate.

Page 71:

This on-the-job training could be best done by imbedding more U.S. military personnel in Iraqi deployed units. The number of imbedded personnel would be based on the recommendation of our military commanders in Iraq, but it should be large enough to accelerate the development of a real combat capability in Iraqi Army units. Such a mission could involve 10,000 to 20,000 American troops instead of the 3,000 to 4,000 now in this role.

Page 73:

We could, however, support a short-term redeployment or surge of American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, or to speed up the training and equipping mission, if the U.S. commander in Iraq determines that such steps would be effective.

So basically Bush’s new Iraq Strategy follows the advice of the Iraq Study Group Report with the exception of negotiating with Iran and Syria.

And while I’m on the subject of the ISG, can someone explain to me how Vernon Jordon got in on the group? Did some Iraqi official need to get their mistress a job at Revlon?

I met Charles Brandt a few years ago in Rehoboth Beach at a signing for his book, “I Heard You Paint Houses,” the story of the “last ride” of Jimmy Hoffa as told by Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, the man who took Hoffa on that “ride.” I went to the signing on a lark, and ended up asking him a myriad of questions about people and places that were familiar to me and surprisingly in his book.

So when he came back to Rehoboth this month to promote his new book, “Unfinished Business,” written with Joe Pistone (AKA Donnie Brasco), I asked him about his “Houses” book tour, and the people he met along the way with questions and stories. Enough people, interestingly enough, to warrant an epilogue to the book. If you have the hardback already, you can download the Epilogue here for free, or you can just buy the paperback and it’s already in there.

“At every signing there have been people coming up to me with stories.” -Charles Brandt

Mr. Brandt told me the story of a man who solved the mystery of the missing airstrip in Baltimore, an airstrip that was now a Gap store. And the former union driver who came in to get an autographed copy of his book for James P. Hoffa, Jimmy’s son. And the man from Palm Springs who received a call from Josephine Hoffa wondering if he knew the whereabouts of her missing husband.

Mr. Brandt was also approached by law enforcement officials who dealt with the case. Like the Department of Labor prosecutor that turned Frank Fitzsimmons into an informant.

One of my favorite stories was the man whose father bugged Sam Giancana’s house for Sam Giancana. Apparently Giancana was a paranoid man living on the lamb in Mexico and he bugged his own home to see what the other mob bosses were saying about him when they visited. Giancana ended up getting wacked 3 days before his Church Committee testimony.

The most intriguing story Charles Brandt told me, though, wasn’t generated through a book signing, it came from good old fashioned reporting. Eric Shawn, a reporter from FOX News, followed a lead on a woman who witnessed the hit on “Crazy” Joey Gallo. The woman was an editor for the New York Times and was one of many witnesses who left the scene without ever being questioned. She identified Frank Sheeran as the “lone gunman,” which contradicted the news stories that there were 3 gunmen. The police, however, confirmed the “lone gunman” story. Also confirmed was one interesting guest sitting at “Crazy” Joey Gallo’s table, Jerry Orbach of Law and Order fame. He refused to cooperate with the investigation. I wonder what Detective Lennie Briscoe would have to say about that?

With the old, current and about-to-be enacted laws directed at smokers and smoking, wonder how long it will be before this becomes mandatory treatment for smokers or, at least, accepted regimen for those who may wish a smoker to quit…be it family, personal physician or govt. body…despite the smoker’s defiance?

Can’t happen, you say? Well, not today, not tomorrow…the further research has to be carried out, clinical studies and trials, aftereffects. But “what if”? Seems to me smokers are seen to be a much bigger, more serious threat to society at large, than those who suffer from…let’s say severe depression. The above article talks of several modalities to administer this “therapy”:

a technique called deep brain stimulation, in which electrodes are implanted in the brain to switch off particular areas

Can you say ECT…often used, even in the unwilling, to treat depression and a variety of other illnesses, many times as an aversion therapy and too frequently among the young.

Just curious…but wouldn’t surprise me a bit

Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo from Colorado is calling for the abolishment of congressional caucuses based on race:

“It is utterly hypocritical for Congress to extol the virtues of a colorblind society while officially sanctioning caucuses that are based solely on race,” said the Colorado Republican, who is most widely known as a vocal critic of illegal immigration.

“If we are serious about achieving the goal of a colorblind society, Congress should lead by example and end these divisive, race-based caucuses,” said Tancredo, who is scheduled pitch his longshot presidential bid this weekend in New Hampshire.

“Utterly hypocritical” is exactly correct. Good call, Tom.

After I revealed problems at Mariner Middle School as told by actual teachers in the school, the minutes of the Cape teacher union meetings have been mysteriously removed from the CHEA web site.  A little too much publicity I’d say. The “culture of secrecy” between educrats and parents continues.
Just for fun, here is a cached screen shot of the site the day we discussed it on the air.  This image shows the minutes were up on the site, but removed today.

Teachers have a right to speak out against a weak administration, and I applaud the union members for coming forward.