Shocker...

I thought Bojangles (Jim Graham) being Chairman of the WMATA board was going to be a good thing for everyone.

Nope - turns out he is out to screw us over again.  That's right -- Bojangles is at it again.

This lovely article (here) quotes him as being vehmently against fare increases, he doesn't even want them discussed.

If you weren't aware Metro still has a $29m shortfall for their upcoming fiscal budget.  The news this week is that they want to use Federal Stimulus money to operate (exactly what it shouldn't be used for).  Which is unreal.  Bojangles would rather cut service than raise fares -- which is ridiculous.

You can not be cutting service.  No way.  No how.  No Graham.

Do what is right ... raise fares.

Metro!

First off - MPD Chief Cathy Lainer is bringing back All Hands on Deck at least eight times in 2009, according to the Examiner, here.  I think this is a great initiative, especially with crime on the rise. Keep up the good work Chief Lainer.

WaPo reports that the DHS Project at Saint Elizabeth's has passed another hurdle - getting approval from the NCPC.  I'm all about this.  Read the article here.

Now onto WMATA, I have a few things to discuss ... the first being their budget.

Metro's budget is a mess ... just like transit agencies and governments around the country.  They need to find $176 million in order to operate a balanced budget.  Yesterday, Catoe and his team of fools proposed two cuts - $103 million in operating expenses (operational/admin), and $73 million in service cuts.  They are going to cut about 8% of their workforce - totally 891 positions, which kind of sucks.  But the service cuts are what have me more angry ... I understand the economy is hurting, but that is exactly not the time to propose service cuts - we need more/better service.  The last time the Board voted to increase the Fare (in 2007), they vowed not to do it again until 2010 - who cares.  

While I think the service you get for your $1.35 is lackluster - I propose increasing fares, to a base fare of about $1.50.  I also propose the introduction of Unlimited Monthly passes - available to SmarTrip users only.  Now of course, I haven't done any calculations in regarding these numbers - I think raising the fares is the only option, as I personally don't consider service cuts to be a smart idea.  Cutting service, in any economy is stupid - in a bad economy, it's really stupid.  People need public transportation now more than ever.

Onto the next topic ... which Imagine, DC got me thinking about this morning - another failure (budget cut) during Metro's planning phase ... only two tracks per line.  While putting a second set of tracks (or even just one extra track) on each line would have been extremely costly - I think it would have been better for everyone in the long run.  Imagine DC asks why we can't keep Metro open 24/7 and just single-track around scheduled maintenance - and a commenter responds very smartly, that running the trains just slows everything down to the point where it is basically not worth it.  I really do wish Metro had express tracks ... wouldn't that be lovely.

And finally ... TSARchitect came up with a new Metro map (you can view the map here), that is truly amazing.  I don't want to steal his hard work without sending you over to his site for the ad revenue, and for his much more in dept analysis.   My favorite part is that he has added in a 'brown' line - which runs on a circuitous route around the city.  Also the Blue line is not routed along its long proposed M Street run, with TSAR putting it:

this plan does not run the new Blue Line down M street and back into its current configuration. Instead, it runs the Blue Line north, through Adams Morgan, Shaw, Gallaudet, and Trinidad to create a new corridor mostly on Florida Avenue.

I'm not going to steal his thunder ... go read his whole thing.  It really is another great improvement on our ever-lackluster Metro system.

The roundup...

Quick and easy ...

* Merry Christmas Eve!

* Yesterday GM closed its two biggest SUV factories - Janesville, Wisconsin (a plant which has been open for over 90 years) and Moraine, Ohio.  This move follows in the footsteps of Chrysler closing its Newark, Delaware SUV plant last Friday.  Each of the Big Three is now left with only one plant dedicated to producing SUVs - an odd thought in a consumer society that was once so dedicated.  The Paper of Record reports - here.

* Obama promised change, and people expect it, whether or not he mentioned it specifically.  The Paper of Record reports on people around the country hoping/expecting a massive shift in American food policy from the Obama White House.  I join them in that expectation, considering our food/farm policy is based on almost century old concepts and ideas.  Here.

* The Paper of Record and Danger Room both have leads about the changes that lie ahead for the State Department under Hillary Clinton.  In an era where the Pentagon has become so large that most diplomacy is handled through their staff offices - some argue that a Department of State should just be merged into the DoD.  Thankfully Clinton and Obama are reversing that trend, and at a breakneck pace.  The world needs to know the the US is their friend, not just a mighty military power, and the State Department has set out to do that.  Both USAID and the Foreign Service are recruiting and hiring people in record numbers - preparing for the new roads that lie ahead.  [Foreign service hires, here; Clinton expanding DoS role, here; Danger Room on it all, here]

* Via We Love DC, here - which references WaPo, here.  Why do you never see Metro in films?  Because Metro has the most ridiculous rules ever in regards to filming.  No shooting.  No jumping faregates.  No death.  And of course, no eating or drinking.

* The end of Paper Transfers -- January 4th, I can't wait.

* GGW has the new committee assignments for the DC Circus, chosen by Ringleader Gray.  Tommy Wells has been placed on Graham's Public Works & Transportation committee, which GGW says is a great thing as Wells showed up to meetings when not even on the committee and is very pro-smart growth.  Here.  CityPaper has a full rundown of committee assignments, here.

* WaPo, here, has Michael Brown's appointment to the WMATA Board, as an alternate, by Gray.  And our good friend Jim Bojangles Graham was reappointed.  Bojangles currently serves as Vice-Chairman, and his reappointment will hopefully solidify him as Chairman.  If Bojangles does good as WMATA Chairman, I might think about forgiving him.

A few brief bits later

Bare with me ...

* The Paper of Record has it as a fact, the love-child of the auto industry, Toyota, is feeling the hurt too.  Saddness can be read here, they are losing money for the first time since it started up in the late 30s.

* Gizmodo has an awesome post about kids in Maryland who are using speeding cameras to get their enemies.  Basically they make copies of their friend's license plates with a glossy photo paper and go speeding past cameras to get them tickets.  This is perhaps the best use of a speeding camera ever - read here.

* Apparently CNN conducted a poll which determined that Vice President Dick Cheney was the worst VP ever.  As if CNN wasn't far-leftist enough for you, I am linking to an article from Left-Wing blog Real Clear Politics for the run down on the poll - here.  

I conducted my own poll which found that we've had much worse ... and it turns that Cheney wasn't that bad, he is actually one of the best!  Yay!  In all honesty (and ignoring Corrupt's future post on the topic), Statesman Dick Cheney completely reinvented the role of Vice President ... making it a much more relevant position in today's world.  Now, we know that Biden will take a backseat to Spotlight-whore Obama.  But ... I think Cheney has done good and hope that in the future other VPs follow the path he forged for them.

* Victory for The Paper of Record.  The Chinese had blocked the paper's website as of last Thursday, without explanation - but it was up and running again on Monday, also without explanation.  Short story - here.

* From Autoblog (via H), London has scaled back the hours that the Congestion Charge is in effect due to the slumping economy.  There is also talk that they might scrap the entire concept all together - which is ridiculous.  The Congestion Charge doesn't hurt business, it just forces people to think of alternative means of transportation - and London has many other options.  I think it would be a huge mistake for London to get get rid of the CCZ.

* Connetiquette reader "Friend" sent me this image which portrays what bars and clubs will look like with Bojangles' new rules in effect.  Good job Jim Graham:

* From Lifehacker - though I have seen this elsewhere - the RIAA is no ending its five year policy of suing individual copyright infringers.  The RIAA is going to work with ISPs to identify users who are stealing copyrighted materials - and send them warnings (through the ISP, without the RIAA ever knowing who the person is).  In turn after three warnings the ISPs will be shutting off that users connection.  Sounds fair to me, though I also think the RIAA should keep suing people.

* Via Trains for America - The Governator, Arnold, says "Meanwhile, infrastructure spending as a share of gross domestic product in the United States has dropped 25 percent over the past 20 years" -- so true.  What a great American.

* Via Transportation for America - here: America is ready for change.  A study from the Brookings Institution, found the following: 

Driving, as measured by national VMT[vehicle miles traveled], began to plateau as far back as 2004 and dropped in 2007 for the first time since 1980. Per capita driving followed a similar pattern, with flat-lining growth after 2000 and falling rates since 2005. These recent declines in driving predated the steady hikes in gas prices during 2007 and 2008. Moreover, the recent drops in VMT (90 billion miles) and VMT per capita (388 miles) are the largest annualized drops since World War II.

We are ready for change ... we are ready for real smart growth and better transportation options.

Justice?? Hahaha.

Bojangles wants to get 8 year olds drunk - and Corrupt and GWSkank want to be there for the party too!

Now CharlieCorrupt ... I knew about the 1-year thing, but what I didn't know is that each ANC had the choice to decide what they wanted the rules to be after that one year period (whether to keep it, or to back) - that puts me even more against it. That is exactly what we don't need - rules that vary across the city. Laws like this need to be uniform ... it would be like allowing each ANC to set their own last-call time ... utterly ridic.

And I don't really understand the argument 'Kriston' ... she/he seems to want the DC Council out of the business of managing bar employees - and so do I. The licenses are currently managed by the DC ABC, the Circus just decided to put into the argument and make a new rule. So Kirston it seems that you and I agree - lets go back to the old way of the ABC making the rule, and guess what - the ABC thinks the way it used to be is the best way.

Under either system the problem falls to the bar owners ... but under the pre-Bojangles way, the bar owners and managers would have to be much more careful with selection and training of new employees. Underage drinking isn't life or death - but it is honestly important that bar owners enforce it properly. When there is a new bartender or bounder - the manager should have someone (or them self) rechecking IDs of people they think maybe shouldn't have be let in. The employees should be screened and have references ... and yes, I know mistakes happen. And suspending a license is tough for a single mistake, but I really think that it makes the bar owners and managers much more aware and on-top of their employees.

Oh Bojangles (Jim Graham) ... looks like its you and the entire city versus me.

Late edit: Apparently Corrupt wrote this post, not GWSkank as I had initially said.

Justice!

At the risk of infuriating Tim (and his newfound teetotaling ways), here is a link to a great post on DCist by Kriston about Graham's (Bojangles') proposal to issue a warning to first time offenders that serve alcohol to minors.

A quick excerpt:

It never made any sense for the D.C. Council to be in the business of managing bar employees. A more reasonable rule (such as the one that will govern D.C. for the next year as an experiment) would provide a warning so as to tease out the lazy or merely mistaken bartenders from the habitual offenders. That puts the onus of enforcement on bar employers, where it belongs. Where bar owners and managers are negligent, repeat offenders will prove.

Now this measure will only apply for a year on an experimental level After the year has ended any ANC may reverse the measure as they see fit without any say from DC Council (The Circus). Here's hoping it works (and that my local Adams Morgan ANC pays close attention to see if this is a successful measure)!

The day is over

Okay ... so the day is over and most of you are probably begging for the second that I get away from my computer - so I stop posting.  SORRY!

A few roundup items:

* This one is shocking (not at all) - TIME has selected the one and only, the man of change, President-Elect Barack Obama as Person of the Year.  I have not read any of this yet - but I'll link you to it anyway, I'm sure it is a good read.  TIME selected him, "For having the confidence to sketch an ambitious future in a gloomy hour, and for showing the competence that makes Americans hopeful he might pull it off."

* Also of note on TIME's website -- Pictures of the year.  You can see them here.  Some of these pictures are truly worth 1,000 words - and it is a interesting way to remember the year.  I should also say how I am always impressed with the fact that TIME has managed to secure the website, time.com, they must have bought that back in like 1990 - or payed a large sum of money when they did buy it.  Just always interesting to think about those things.

* Apparently I missed part of the memo with the whole Bojangles (Jim Graham) parking thing.  First off, he had a cosponsor - Tommy Wells - who is now making his way to my blacklist.  But as David Alpert over at GGW points out the CouncCircus just isn't thinking when they continue to back the policy of free Saturday parking.  Downtown is a cool place to be - we do not need free parking to draw them in and the city is loosing tons of money in the process.  You can read Dave's write up here, its really good.

* I also noticed in WaPo this afternoon something else I had missed at the 3-ring circus yesterday - they actually did something smart.  The council voted to change the fee/tax structure for stormwater usage, based on how much of your property is covered with a building, asphalt, or other non-porous surface that runs water into the city's storm water system.  This is a great idea.  Fenty needs to sign it, and I hope he does.

* The Blade is reporting about the shooting at 11th and Q - in what is likely another directed hit against a gay person.  This is starting to become disturbing, because these people are being targeted.  And this person wasn't targeted leaving a gay bar, he had just come from Fox and Hound (straight bar), and was then shot in the head.  The Blade article is here, and ANC Commissioner Jacobson has a very good write up in his blog about how to stay safe - check it out.

* Amazing picture - if you are my friend on Reader - you've seen this already.  But check out these pictures of the Space Shuttle on the back of its Boeing 747 carrier on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center.  Amazing, awesome, etc.  (via Gizmodo, cite Hayes)

* In case you didn't get the memo - last call for Inauguration is now 4am instead of 5am.  GWSkank was really upset about it last night, but he hasn't posted today as I thought he would.  Bars and clubs will need to pay a fee in order to stay open (good idea), and will still be able to stay open 24h if they so please.  Looks like its time for a ToGo Cup.

* Apparently a quarter (yes 25%) of all NYC subway deaths between 1990 and 2003 can be attributed to being drunk.  Wow.  Crazy.  (Via Daily Intel, here)

* So we are making an attempt to track feeds ... which if you weren't aware is quite difficult with a regular tracker.  We've been using Google Analytics (which is awes) for normal visits, and today Cocktail recommended SiteMeter (which seems cool) ... and now we have a third joining the ring - FeedBurner (which is owned by Google).  From what I understand, your current feed should automatically update and we should start being able to see how many people are subscribing.  But who knows, if that doesn't work - I am going to post the Feedburner URL here and expect you all to change.

* Also another housekeeping note - if you read this via a RSS aggregator - you will see ads at the bottom of all the posts.  If you seem something interesting, click it, buy it, whatever.  Same goes for the people looking on the regular site - sometimes the stuff is pretty cool.

* Upcoming posts!  Maybe tomorrow, maybe whenever I have free time.  Net Neutrality.  Inauguration stuff.  Transportation stuff.  Lala.  12 laws of life.  Minister of Education.  And last but not least, one of these days I'll write about the Iron Chancellor!

* I am off to Nooshi - I leave you with this cool thing below!

* Um ... cool.  A bike parking system that is amazing, simple, and should be installed everywhere around this country.  Via GGW, here, who apparently got it via BoingBoing from a tipster named Alex.

The blog review edition

Okay ... for all of the 3 people who read this out there, you may or may not be surprised that this is not my first venture into blogging.  All the way back in the Spring of 2005 there was a great blog out there called the Daily Sheabird.  It used to be located at daily.sheabird.com - which hopefully will one day be back.  The Sheabird was far from daily, but it offered some excellent coverage on the GWU SA/MCGB/PB elections of 2005.  I had a good time making fun of a ton of people, made fun of the Daily Colonial which is an illegitimate source of news on GW's campus, and took most jokes way too far.  Anyway ... the Daily Sheabird was shut down - which was probably for the best.  And although I have had many false starts since then - I think my blogging days are back, and hopefully I won't offend too many people.  Although if Mr. Bojangles, Jim Graham, is offended I think I am doing my job.

As a sidebar on the whole Mr. Bojangles thing - I know I said I would be using it exclusively when referring to Councilman Graham, but I realized that in the 21st Century the world is run by Google.  So it will be my goal that when someone Google's Mr. Graham's name - this blog comes up.  By the way Bojangles, if your staff has a Google Alert out for you - I'd be happy to sit down and discuss my opinion of your actions anytime.

Okay ... Sorry about that whole sidebar.  The point of this post was a blog review, and today I will be talking about Cocktail Blog.  Cocktail Blog is not a blog about Cocktails, it is a by run by Marc Abanto - who is affectionately known as Cocktail, although I have never really been sure if he likes that nickname.  He has a great blog and I really encourage you check it out over at - http://marcsgchat.blogspot.com - add it to your RSS Reader, or start checking it daily ... its really funny.  The reason I decided to write about Cocktail's blog today was a post he had about ILOLAW, which I have never heard of.  Apparently its an acronym for Inappropriately Laughing Out Loud At Work - and I generally hope that at least some of the stuff we put up here entertains you enough to do just that.

And cocktail - Blogger/Blogspot thinks internet is spelled incorrectly because it thinks that the internet is a proper noun ... and should be Internet - I don't get it either.

The other reason why I love Cocktail's blog is the weekly post known as the Moron on the Week.  He also has a similar, but daily, For the Win/For the Loss - which is similar.  Anyway, this week I made two nominations - DC Metropolitan area's best Friend, John Catoe, and DC's favorite Circus performer, Mr. Bojangles (Jim Graham).  Unfortunately it seems that Cocktail agrees with Bojangles and wants those little kids to get really drunk, so he didn't chose him for the Moron of the Week voting - but Catoe made it!  So go now - click here - read about Catoe's failure this week, and be sure to vote on the sidebar poll.

Bojangles is at it again, now pay up

Get this ... I seemed to have missed this update of more of our very own Jim Graham, Mr. Bojangles antics ring-side last night.  This guy amazes me.  

The Examiner is reporting this morning that not only was Bojangles successful in in passing his emergency legislation to get 7-year old kids drunk, he also squeezed by the parking meter fee increases.  I completely agree that meter rates should go up -- it should not be so cheap to park on the street.  But I am not clear as to why Bojangles was so dead set on getting this done ASAP, nor was Councilman Phil Mendelson.  The Examiner reports that Mendelson also wondered what the rush was all about - and why we passed this increase with basically no analysis on the situation.  I don't think we need some crazy in-depth analysis, but a study into the situation couldn't hurt.  More importantly I think that a study into what needs to be done with the extra $8-10 million would be more important.  It should be noted that Bojangles' bill has the additional funding from these increases will go towards social programs and housing projects that have faced serious cuts this year, not road improvements like normal meter-generated fees.

The best part about this entire thing is that Bojangles didn't have the support of a our favorite politician, Jack Evans.  Evans wanted a piece of the pie, so he got Bojangles to drop the crusade against weekend parking rates AND give a little pet project of his $1 million.  Somehow I would not be surprised if Evan's pet project fed money right into his campaign coffers.  And Councilman Muriel Bowser brings up the point that Evans little pet project should not get funding just because he decided to support this measure - the project should have to compete on an even playing field like all other projects.  I am just always shocked with how blatant and open Evans' corruption is, its almost amusing - except for the tax payers who are funding and supporting his corruption.

Whether or not this measure will get Fenty's signature is up in the air.  The Fenty Administration has supported meter increases forever, but wants the extra money tied to road improvements - as they should be.  (It's amazing - and scary - that I find myself agreeing with Fenty so much lately.)  Because Bojangles designated the funding towards social programs and housing projects - which is stupid - I am going to guess (and hope) that Fenty does not sign this into a law.  But then again he might just do it to avoid a fight with the Circus.  The measure will be in effect for 225 days once signed - the Circus would have to act further to make it permanent.

Wednesday Morning

A few things ...

* I'm still hoping that Fenty will veto Mr. Bojangles' (Councilman Jim Graham) initiative to get 8 year olds drunk.  We will just have to wait and see.

* In other DCCircus news, yesterday was Councilman Carol Schwartz's last day, she spent a good portion of the day taming lions and parading around with penguins.  I can't really say that she will be sorely missed by this blogger, but hey - at least she is actually from the party which she claimed to identify with during the election (cough, Mike Brown, cough).

* And I mentioned this yesterday - but I am beyond excited for FiOS ... yes we have known that the Office of Cable Television approved this a while ago, but it still needed to be officially approved by the Circus - which they did yesterday.  They also spent their time approving about 10,000 resolutions naming buildings and streets for people ... ah the importance of being on a city council that has no real governing power and can be overridden by Congress.

* In a small note of housekeeping, due to Bojangles actions this week - the list of people in the Circus who are currently in my favor has dropped to an all time low of one.  Congrats Mary Cheh for being the only member who actually seems to care about the people.  Now if only we can get that Election Machine subpoena enforced...  Bojangles has landed himself in the same category as the Ringleader himself, Gray, and the only person bold enough to blatantly lie on his ballot application - Mike Brown.  Bojangles, Gray, and MBrown are so ridiculous they actually make Jack Evans look legit and not at all corrupt, which is impressive.

Okay ... enough about the Circus, now onto the real fun -- INAUGURATION!

* We all heard of WMATA's plan to increase service to unheard of levels, yet still charge off-peak fares and not charge for parking.  Well thankfully John Catoe and the team of intellectuals over at Metro decided they should try to lose a little less money than they were already pouring down the drain.  Metro wants to charge rush-hour fares on Inauguration Day and also charge for parking - both excellent ideas which I fully support.  People are going to take Metro either way, and considering the $1.65 doesn't really cover the service anyway - its a good idea to not lose as much money as humanly possible.  I'm also all about Metro charging for parking - they want to charge a modest $4.95 (ballpark), whereas I think they should be gouging people - like $10-20...really.  Metro is going to hire a parking contractor in order to ensure those without SmarTrips are able to use Metro's lots, which seems like a good idea - although you may remember the reason Metro switched to SmarTrip only lots was because their parking operator PennParking was skimming off the top.  (That whole thing was via WaPo)

* Cell phones ... looks like you shouldn't even bother, jk!  It seems as though its not just Metro, DDOT, restaurants, and bars that are going to be feeling the strain of an extra 3 million people in the city -- according to WTOP, here, cell phone users are screwed as well.  The CTIA (the spokesperson for all wireless providers) is suggesting that you text instead of call people - as texts put less of a strain on the network and are more likely to go through.  They also advise not trying to send picture messages - as everyone will be doing the same thing and its just not going to go through.  Of course cell phones of first responders and public safety authorities will have priority on all the carrier's networks - which is probably a good idea, and Sprint is increasing its iDEN network (the push-to-talk network) capacity by 90% in DC.  Other providers will likely also be increasing their network capacity.  Considering I can not connect to AT&T's network under ideal circumstances - I have no hopes of it actually working during Inauguration.  The good news is that so many VZW users will be in Metro, packed into trains and falling off platforms, that their network down there will collapse too - so on Inauguration Day, no one can use cell phones in Metro - haha.

* On another Metro note - they are advising that you don't bother.  Basically if you live in the city, Metro expects you to keep out.  Trains will be too crowded.  They say to take buses - haha - right, because those are always running on time.  I plan on sitting back with a bottle of Maker's Mark, a bowl of my newly discovered Pimento Cheese, and some Wheat Thins - the best way to enjoy Inauguration.

Okay that is the end of the Inauguration thing ... now onto more random updates.

* Writing about Pimento Cheese a second ago had me thinking again, wondering what it was.  Do you have any idea?  If you have heard of Pimento cheese, please comment - because I had not up until a week ago.  It is really good - and disgusting all at the same time.  A little research led me to discover it is a Southern thing (surprise, surprise), and it is basically just Cheese and Mayonnaise.  NPR has a write up here.

* Also ... noted this morning the French Competition Agency (whatever that is) has declared that the 5-year exclusivity agreement for the iPhone between Orange (aka French Telecom Mobile) and Apple - is illegal.  This is similar to Apple's agreements with mobile providers around the globe (it is with AT&T in the United States if you didn't get the memo).  Anyway, while I'm quite pleased about this - as I find these exclusivity agreements annoying (honestly, who would be on AT&T's network by personal preference) - but once again the French have proven that they don't understand the concept of capitalism.  Since the government has decided to intervene in capitalism, perhaps the French people should just stop voting too - the government can decide their leaders instead.

* All this talk about AT&T has me thinking about how much better Verizon Wireless is - oh I miss you Verizon.  And speaking of Verizon Wireless -- let's talk about Verizon Wireful again, FiOS is coming.  FiOS is coming.  FiOS is coming.  FiOS is coming.  I don't think I've been this excited about a cable provider in a long time.  But I have realized that everyone may not know what Verizon FiOS is ... well first off it stands for Fiber Optic Service, which basically means awesomeness.   I am going to write a post about FiOS - and the link will be right here, but it will also be right below this post.

* Also - big news for Zipcar fans out there!  Although Zipcar has yet to make a profit, even after merging with their only real competitor, FlexCar,  over a year ago - they are catching some attention.  So much attention that Hertz (yea the gigantic car rental corporation) is launching their own version.  It is called Connect, and is exactly the same thing as Zipcar (even down to the green in their logo), and is currently available in NYC and Park Ridge, NJ (soon to be in London and Paris as well).  While I welcome Hertz as a competitor I feel as though they will probably fail - whenever big companies like this try to be young and hip - they just don't get it, and end up floundering.  You can check out the article in the Paper of Record - here.  Also ... as a shameless plug - if you don't have Zipcar you should really get it.  It is the best thing ever, you can sign up -- and get $25 free driving by clicking here!

Oh Snap...

This should have been my usual morning post - but I got a little sidetracked, so now its an afternoon post - with a lot of information.

Sidebar: They really need a better way to make like bullet points on here - each of these paragraphs is a different topic.

Okay, go out and eat please ... just do it ... Nathan's in Georgetown is apparently hurting so much that they might not be able to renew their lease this coming April.  I've honestly only dined there twice, but I've passed by a million times, and it is truly a Georgetown icon.  I get this information via Marc Fisher in WaPo this morning - in an article about Georgetown turning generic.  Apparently Nathan's was feeling the hurt even before the union-induced recession, so I can't imagine that things are faring any better.  So the next time I am in Georgetown, I think I am going to pop in for a bite to eat - I've only been for brunch so I might as well try another meal.  Though I will say, there brunch is pretty good.  I will add though, that if you are looking for hole-in-the-wall sports bars/restaurants in Georgetown - Chadwicks is really good.  I basically just undermined this entire post by recommending another restaurant over Nathan's -- lol -- go to both I guess.  Yum!

Education.  Education.  Education.  Rhee.  Rhee.  Rhee.  I have yet to have the honor of posting about The Iron Chancellor on this blog, but I will.  The reason I bring this up is Obama's nomination for Minister of Education (I'm pretty much over this whole 'Secretary' business - Minister sounds better), Arne Duncan.  I don't know the guy, he's certainly no Iron Chancellor, but she's also not ready to be MoE.   The Paper of Record has all the deets about this guy here, he seems to be pretty legit - straddling the divide between destroying evil unions and getting our schools the resources they need.  He has the experience, the brains, and the temperament to be an excellent Minister.  I am glad to see that Mr. Duncan is so focused on early childhood education, it makes absolutely no sense to start reforms in middle schools and high schools when the kids are coming without the proper educational background.  I look forward to positive changes and hopefully no children will be left behind.

BusinessWeek ran with a story yesterday about Airbus keeping it's 'edge' on Boeing.  Let's just start with the facts, If it ain't Boeing, I'm not going.  Any 'edge' that BusinessWeek asserts that Airbus has proves that BW has no idea how to run a business.  Airbus is kept afloat by the EU, their business model is non-existent, they just make up designs that have planes looking like Sperm Whales and then receive billions of dollars in government subsidies in order to keep the program afloat - as far as I am concerned Airbus is unreal, it doesn't qualify as a legitimate business.  Anyway back to the BW article, it talks about how Airbus didn't get the memo that no one wants Sperm Whale planes and they are looking for smaller, lighter, more agile planes like the godsend the Dreamliner.  I'm pretty sure according to Boeing's original timeline, I was supposed to be flying in a Dreamliner right now ... but that didn't happen.  Then again when you completely reinvent the manufacturing process to make a plane completely out of composite you are bound to run into some delays.  The 787 is now not expected to deliver until mid-2010, sadness.  Though that still puts it light years (4 years-ish) ahead of Airbus' lackluster competitor the a350 (which is essentially a plane they already make).  Boeing also has double the orders for the 787 than Airbus does for the a350.  I mean basically its a fact, Boeing is better.  I don't know why BW wrote this article, it was a waste of everyone's time ... Airbus should have gone bankrupt years ago.

All this talk of planes has me quite happy - I love planes.  And I love Boeing.  It also reminded me to check out the blog of a good friend of mine - Jon Ostrower - who writes FlightBlogger.  Anytime I come across a blog post about airplanes, Jon is linked somewhere in the post because he knows everything about everything.  He's quite smart and seems to get all the deets before anyone else, so he's clearly a good guy to know (and a good blog to read).  Anyway, I popped over to his blog (link again - yea you should go, its that good.), and he is leading with a story about the Chinese cancelling or delaying aircraft deliveries in 2009.  He points out this sucks for our friends over at Airbus, who are currently building a new factory over there.  I'm sure the EU will rush in to bail them out and make sure they remain an unreal and illegitimate business.

Taking the airplane thought and merging into a new topic. ... I would have included this in my Dreamliner discussion, but it had already gotten too long and off track - unions.  It is clear to me and basically every economist in the world (not verified) that the unions have caused the current recession - jk.  sort of.  Anyway, a union-lead strike caused a 58 day delay with Boeing's Dreamliner, probably causing a much bigger delay due to a backlog of parts that showed up - couldn't be put in the right places, etc, etc.  The Big Three had horrible business practices and didn't seem to get that people weren't going to buy SUVs for ever, but even with that stupidity I think they could have survived on their own.  Except for the fact that they are saddled with huge health care costs for retirees -- and they can't actually close down a factory.  Yea, that is absolutely my favorite.  When they close a factory or shutdown a production line, or really attempt to save any sort of money ... they still have to pay the people who work there.  Yea?  Does that make much sense to you?  In essence, they have absolutely no flexibility.  That is like if over the next 3 years when Bank of America lays off some 35,000+ employees, they just got to go home but still got paid 95% of their salary.  I'm sorry ... what?  Is this socialism?  Why even bother having a business if you can't make any decisions to save money.  I'm sure old Socialism Corrupt will have a post up in seconds about how unions are the 'fabric of our nation' and saved this and that and are the greatest - blah blah blah.  Yea, I'll admit it ... unions were good for quite some time - they have served their role, but they are inefficient and have no place in the 21st century.  Making a case for unions is like making a case for a horse drawn carriage over a car - yea its pretty cool, but its certainly not the best way to travel and it costs so much more money than it could ever be worth.  So you heard it here first, I'm calling on the 2010 Republican Congressional Majority to pass a law abolishing all unions.  Actually, why go through Congress - unions should just disband themselves on their own.  Okay .. that's good.

I can't wait to see Corrupt's response to this union banter - he frequently gets in a tizzy about such things.  He's all about making sure that people get paid for work they aren't actually doing.

I was trying to look up what happened with that whole Jim Graham wants underage kids to get trashed thing - but the Legislative Information Management System (LIMS) seems to require intricate knowledge of the legislation in order to find it - which kind of defeats the purpose in my eyes.  So I decided to read the Council's agenda for this afternoon ... this thing is like a 3-ring circus.  Their day seems to be occupied with approving resolutions naming streets and buildings after people.  Of note!  On the Consent portion of the agenda is the final vote for the approval of Verizon's Cable franchise, which means FiOS!  FiOS!  FiOS!  Oh I'm excited.  Anyway I discover that Jim Graham and the other cowboys over at the Council have decided to go ahead and approve this Bill (B17-0983) 13-0.  Unreal.  Fenty I'm counting on you buddy ... you made the right choice with Rhee and Lainer, make the right choice on this one.  Well I'm glad that Jim Graham has succeeded in getting kids drunk, hopefully they don't vomit all over his lawn.

The Paper of Record ran an Op-Ed today, declaring the death of dating.  It is over, it is done with, hook ups are here to stay.  According to the article, a new study by Child Trends has found that more High School seniors saying they never date than date frequently - aka they are whores.  Well this is great for our society.  Actually ... it is a very interesting article, and its also intriguing to see the amount of studies that have been done into this whole hook-up thing.  Makes sense to me, like the article notes - I am more likely to hook up with someone a few times, and if it is good - then go on a date.

Caroline Kennedy - get a life, do something else.  You will not be the Senator from The Great State of New York.  The Daily Intel has the rundown of the opinions out there, here.

Okay ... this has gone on for long enough.  Enjoy.

Also, I hate the dentist.  That is all.

Continuing the banter on adult beverages ...

Nothing like the topic of alcohol to get a bunch of 20-somethings riled up!

I'm siding with Morgan (and thus Jim Graham) on the issue of adjusting the penalties on catching underage drinkers in bars. Lowering the excessive fines for bars that accidentally allow underage drinking is not the worst thing in the world. As long as the law is still actively enforced, I don't believe bars need to be threatened with unreasonable financial implications when a few sneaky teens fool a bouncer. No one is endorsing serving minors, obviously ... the penalties just need to be made a bit more reasonable.

As for Senators Feinstein and Bennett trying to wield their influence on the council's decision to keep bars open to 5am ... I'm ready to explode. I read/heard someone joking that the council should do something absurd in response -- such as passing a resolution suggesting that CA and UT drivers should refrain from driving on Thursdays ... and while that's not going to happen, completely ignoring Feinstein and Bennett will do just fine by me. I happen to think that keeping bars open to 5am will actually help law enforcement, as there won't be enormous masses pouring out of every bar at 2:30-3:00 -- there will instead by gradual/continuous departures throughout the evening. Then again, I'm no expert on law enforcement ... just as Feinstein and Bennett are not experts on Washington outside of Capitol Hill.

And with that ... I could use a drink. Haha - see everyone at Showtunes tonight ...

In Defense of Jim Graham...

While we like to keep things nice and cordial here on Connetiquette Ave, I have to disagree with Tim's post about Councilmember Graham. First off - I totally agree that the drinking age is absurd, particularly the strict manner in which it is enforced. DC is particularly strict about enforcing drinking regulations (maybe because with 90+ law enforcement agencies and jurisdictions in the metro area, it's hard for MPD to find anything better to do. Oh wait, there's this. And this.).

While I (of course) believe it is important to enforce the law as written and that public safety is and should be a priority. That being said, we simply have bigger fish to fry. Even with these stringent laws underaged people are going to drink. We've tried the whole MADD experiment now for pushing 30 years. It didn't stop underage drinking, it just pushed the issue to even more dangerous clandestine binge-drinking, particularly on college campuses. In a sick way these types of laws are leading to a much greater risk for underage people.

Some would argue: fine, get rid of the laws. Well, here's hoping that somedays we do. But with the current federal regulation that removes the transportation funding for any state/territory that changes the drinking age, that really isn't a possibility. Not to mention there's that whole (unjust) Congressional review thing for DC laws. So what's a councilman to do? He makes what changes he can.

Spending time, money, and energy forcing this into a larger issue by having unnecessarily high penalties for what amounts to a small infraction is simply not worth it. I agree that simply waiving the first infraction while retaining the eventual penalty doesn't solve the issue, but to me it's a step in the right direction -- getting rid of these absurd requirements in the first place.

Jim Graham ... likes drunk kids

Let me start this post off by making something clear: Underage drinking is acceptable.  And the drinking age should be lowered to 13 ... but for now the drinking age is 21, and that means that minors should be unable to buy/drink liquor.  Do whatever you want behind closed doors ... In fact, I encourage you to drink behind closed doors - you just can't go out -- sorry.

I was shocked to see this WaPo post from Loose Lips this morning over at the City Desk.  Councilman Jim Graham has introduced legislation to give bar/club owners who are caught serving a minor a warning on their first offense.  It is currently a $1000 fine and the suspension of their license for 2 days.  I'm sorry ... are you kidding me?  A warning?  What is this pre-school?  Even more ridiculous is Graham's reasoning after listening to the testimony ... "a distracted employee or an employee who didn't understand the importance of checking ID. These were not cases of places that just didn't care." what!?  hahaha.

Lets go over this ... 'an employee who didn't understand the importance of checking ID' - that place deserves to be shut down for a week.  If the employees don't understand that they have to check ID, what else aren't they clear on?  Perhaps they aren't clear on washing their hands after going to the bathroom, or not spitting in customers food.  Lame excuse.

Excuse 2 ... 'distracted employee' - if a jail guard was to be distracted and left a cell door open, would we take pity on him.  If that same restaurant was too distracted to realize that he was pouring rum into my Rose Kennedy ... would I be pleased with him?  should the management?  NO.

THIS IS UNREAL.  UNREAL, PEOPLE.

Oh ps ... Jim Graham also called DC's capitol of underage drinking -- Lauriol Plaza -- a respectable place.  They are respectable about making great Margaritas ... that is about it.  Checking IDs -- not so much.

I won't forget this Jim Graham.  This is just unreal.  I'm sorry.  How much are these people paying you to introduce this legislation.

In case you were wondering DC's ABC Board is completely against it.

The Council has tentatively approved the measures and is voting for sure tomorrow.

To find your Councilman - visit here!   Please contact him/her today!

If you live in Ward 1 - email Jim: jgraham@dccouncil.us