Our favorite *former* DC judge has earned the honor of the Washington Posts' "Idiot of the Year" award:
2007 Idiot of the Year: Former Judge Roy L. Pearson of Washington. This former administrative court judge exemplifies everything that the award stands for. Demonstrating worse judgment than a 15-year-old at Mardis Gras, he sued his neighborhood dry cleaner for $54 million over a pair of lost pants.
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A HERO award goes out to the YouTuber with the "Don't Tase Me, Bro" remix!
If you can't see the video, click HERE.
Tuesday July 3, 2007 - A HERO Award goes out to Scottish cab driver Alex Mcllveen who with others fought the terrorists who crashed a burning car into the Glasgow airport terminal earlier this week.
"I told my passenger to run for her life, then I went for the man in the T-shirt and managed to skelp him in the face. I followed it up by booting him twice.
"By that time some other people had joined in and it seemed like the T-shirt guy was trying to get back into the Jeep.
"Then the driver got out of the car. He was already in flames. It was obvious he was the real psycho of the pair.
"Someone was hosing him down but the flames seemed to jump up again just as it looked like they had gone out.
"It was obvious the driver wanted into the boot of the Jeep for something and I was worried about what it was. I thought it must be a gun.
"He was going crazy, just lashing out at everyone and babbling p*sh in a foreign language the whole time.
"I've heard people say since that he was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of c**p to me.
"I ran for the guy and punched him twice in the face with pretty good right hooks.
"Then I kicked him with full force right in the balls but he didn't go down. He just kept on babbling his rubbish.
"I couldn't believe that he was still standing. I know I would have been floored by that kind of kick."
Alex continued to take on the man, who was lashing out with his fists. He recalled: "He was a big guy and I'm not really a fighter, but his punches were wild and I managed to dodge them and make some good strikes myself.
"Luckily, more people joined in and we managed to beat the guy down. The police apparently caught the other man.
Moral of the story? Don't be Messin' with the Scots!
Sunday, July 1, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to... Captain America?
Yes, it's sad but true. Captain America is dead.
According to the Associated Press story (via YAHOO):
Yes, folks, Captain America is dead and buried in the latest issue of Marvel Comics, due on newsstands the morning after Independence Day. After 66 years of battling villains from Adolf Hitler to the Red Skull, the red, white and blue leader of the Avengers was felled by an assassin's bullet on the steps of a New York federal courthouseRIP.
Saturday, June 30, 2007 - A HERO award goes out for long time ABC film critic Joel Siegel who died this week at the age of 63 from colon cancer.
Siegel was known for hit witty, humorous movie reviews. He had a regular Friday movie feature on ABC's Good Morning America and was often a gust host on Siskel and Ebert, a television movie review show.
But many people do not know is that besides being an accomplished journalist, Siegel also was known for his civil rights work in the 1960s and his work with Robert Kennedy campaigns.
Read his career info at the Internet Movie Database.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to JibJab for their release yesterday of another very funny political animated cartoon, Star-Spangled Banner.
You may recall that JibJab has released several other wickedly funny videos over the past year. this new one is a compilation of US Presidents singing the song. Our favorites:
This Land
Good to Be in DC.
Source: JibJab.com
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to the Chung family and their Washington DC dry cleaning store for refusing to intimidated by the American judicial system.
You may remember that the Chungs were sued for millions of dollars over a missing pair of pants. Thousands of dollars later in legal fees, the Chungs were finally vindicated.
The Washington Post has a complete update on the story HERE.
Monday, June 25, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to author Conn Igguldoen for authoring his book, "The Dangerous book for Boys".
It's a must read for any parent who is raising boys.
The Washington Post has a good article on the book called "In Praise of Skinned Knees and Grubby Faces"
LONDON When I was 10, I founded an international organization known as the Black Cat Club. My friend Richard was the only other member. My younger brother, Hal, had "provisional status," which meant that he had to try out for full membership every other week. We told him we would consider his application if he jumped off the garage roof -- about eight feet from the ground. He had a moment of doubt as he looked over the edge, but we said it wouldn't hurt if he shouted the words "Fly like an eagle!" When he jumped, his knees came up so fast that he knocked himself out. I think the lesson he learned that day was not to trust his brother, which is a pretty valuable one for a growing lad.
I wrote "The Dangerous Book for Boys" as a handbook for boys with scenes like that from my childhood in mind. I wasn't trying to please anyone else. I was just trying to free boys to be themselves again, the way we were when my brother and I were growing up.
Saturday, June 23, 2007 - A HERO Award goes out to NASA and the Space Shuttle crew STS-117 for their successful and safe mission launch and return. Every mission is a rick and these astronauts represent the best of American efforts in space.
From the NASA website:
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 3:49 p.m. EDT on Friday.
The challenges posed during STS-117 are invaluable learning experiences that will help the agency prepare for future exploration, William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, explained at a post-landing press conference.
"My hat's off to the team that really pulled off an awesome mission," he said.
The astronauts are set to return to their home base, Johnson Space Center in Houston, on Saturday.
According to Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach, Atlantis may be returned to Kennedy Space Center in Florida in six or seven days. At that point, the orbiter will immediately begin processing for the STS-122 mission, set to launch late this year.
The STS-117 crew began its mission June 8 and arrived at the station June 10. They quickly began work to install the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss structure to the outpost and retracted a set of arrays on the Port 6 (P6) truss. The (S3/S4) contains a new set of solar arrays that increases station power-generation capabilities. The P6 will be relocated during a future assembly mission.
Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester, John “Danny” Olivas, Jim Reilly and Steven Swanson conducted a total of four spacewalks to activate the S3/S4 and to retract the P6 arrays. During the third spacewalk, Olivas repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.
Landing also marked the end of a record-setting spaceflight by Mission Specialist Suni Williams. She broke the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman early in the morning on June 16.
Williams' journey began in December with the launch of STS-116. She lived on the space station for six months before switching places on the STS-117 crew with Clayton Anderson, who is now a flight engineer on the station. When Atlantis landed, she had accumulated 194 days, 18 hours and 58 minutes during her spaceflight.
STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. The next mission, STS-118, is slated to launch in August.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to the nine courageous firefighters who died while fighting a fire in Charleston, South Carolina yesterday.
CNN.com, among others reported extensively on the event and the city's reaction to the tragedy:
"They lost their lives fighting for the safety of our citizens," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said.
"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting a fire, and in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Riley said. "This is a tragic event for our community, the magnitude of which is difficult to fathom or quantify."The victims, their ages and their years of service are:
Sunday, June 17, 2007 - HERO Award goes out to Fathers everywhere.
From Wikipedia.org:
"In the United States, the first modern Father's Day celebration was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. [1][2] It was first celebrated as a church service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton, who is believed to have suggested the service to the pastor, is believed to have been inspired to celebrate fathers after the deadly mine explosion in nearby Monongah the prior December. This explosion killed 361 men, many of them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Another possible inspiration for the service was Mother's Day, which had recently been celebrated for the first time in Grafton, West Virginia, a town about 15 miles away.
Saturday, June 16, 2007 - A HERO Award goes out to India-born author Salman Rushdie who was awarded knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
The internationally-known author, who turned 60 this week, spent nearly 10 years in hiding after Iran's religious leaders called for his assassination after he published his book, Satanic Verses. He now spends most of his time in the United States.
Freedom of the press (including the printing press and author) should always prevail. 
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to Mr. Wizard, Don Herbert, who died today at age 89. For those too young remember, Mr. Wizard brought the magic of science to children of all ages via the magic of television.
The original show ran from 1951-1964 and showed how science experiments could be done using simple household items. Week after week, these experiments motivated millions to consider science as a career.
Good-bye, Mr. Wizard.
Friday, June 8, 2007 - A HERO award goes out to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer for having the common sense to remember, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime!". Judge Sauer saw fit to ensure that his court's ruling that Paris Hilton serve her time in a correctional facility--and not her mansion home-- was enforced by the LA county sheriff.
Paris Hilton's return to the LA County pokey will serve as a reminder to citizens in Los Angeles, those who are celebrities or not, that crime doesn't pay. And oh yes, be sure to show up to the court on time!
