So according to this WaPo video, Hizzoner the righteous Marion Barry, Lord and Master of Ward 8, had a “how to” instructional on approaching voters at the District’s primary polls tomorrow. As in, block and annoy the crap out of people who just want to vote.
I’m never in favor of candidate supporters clogging the entrance to polls. I want to vote in peace and quiet, not listen to last-minute pitches and bullcrapola. (Hence my recent run of absentee balloting.) Heck, I’m all for a half-mile “exclusion zone” centered around each polling place.
I’ll give Marion this; he’s persistent. Probably why he’s re-elected…
We’re stupid: “But by every measure social scientists have devised, voters are spectacularly uninformed. They don’t follow politics, and they don’t know how their government works.”
Neither Liberals nor Conservatives are all that smart: “But a 2007 Pew survey found that the knowledge level of viewers of the right-wing, blustery “The O’Reilly Factor” and the left-wing, snarky “The Daily Show” is comparable, with about 54 percent of the shows’ politicized viewers scoring in the “high knowledge” category.”
We’re Gullible: “Many social scientists have long tried to downplay the ignorance of voters, arguing that the mental “short cuts” voters use to make up for their lack of information work pretty well. But the evidence from the past few years proves that a majority can easily be bamboozled.”
So, really, it doesn’t look to good for us, this November, does it? Or is Dr. Shenkman just trying to present the worse case scenario so we’ll buy his new book on how stupid we are?
I know a lot of us have some issues with the Red Cross given some of their issuesover the years, but I still think they do good work and have put my money where my keyboard is. If you just can’t stomach supporting them then go donate to some of the other operations like The Salvation Army or Save the Children or Catholic Charities USA, all of whom have extended themselves beyond their current means to help people in need.
While we may not be done yet, I feel confident that we won’t have 700,000 homes without power when this is over. So go help out.
Honestly – it looks like Dogpatch across the street. The dumpster disappeared quite a while ago but in preparation for our big-ass storm we are getting even as type this, my neighbor erected a couple half-ass erosion prevention screens and ran his drainage hoses from the basement outside. And he left a bunch of extra hose there for good measure.
The erosion screens laid down when the rain started and are now allowing a steady stream of brown water to run across them. D for effort, F for trying to fix it.
Twenty bucks to a bucket of muddy runoff says it will look like this long after the storm passes.
Good morning, DC! Tropical Storm Hanna is in town, and we’re looking to get some pretty heavy wind and rain as it passes through. We haven’t had weather action like this since Isabel, and while Hanna isn’t quite as notable, us weather geeks are still on the beat. Through the day we’ll be watching radar, NOAA reports, local news, weather cams, weblogs, and Twitter to bring you storm updates. Reload this entry for new info as Hanna passes by, and if you’ve got storm news, Leave a comment.
11:30 PMHanna is history, a Capital Weather Gang postmortem. I’ve switched the radar hotlink at the top of this entry to a time lapse video of the storm, taken with some help from WJLA skycam and curl. So how’d the storm treat you?
6:45 PM Well, the roads downtown are drying off, the wind hasn’t picked up any further, and the weather radar looks relatively clear. I think we can close the book on Hanna as its last precipitation leaves the region. Flooding continues in some areas, so be careful.
5:25 PM (Photo of muddy flood water in Falls Church, VA by larrygol.) Rain’s all gone from downtown, and some blue is starting to appear in the sky. Capital Weather says wind is still gusting, and don’t forget that flash flood risks still remain.
Meanwhile, Hanna continues northeast, now dumping its rain on Philly and NYC.
3:52 PMFAA airport status info for DCA still has general gate hold, taxi, and arrival delays at around 15 minutes, but Hanna is causing delays of 1 to 4 hours for flights heading north to JFK, EWR, and PHL.
3:35 PM News 8 weather people are starting to call it a wrap, saying the worst of the storm has passed. Hurricanes and tropical storms often have strong winds going well after the rain bands have passed, but the weathermen are saying this wasn’t a big wind maker, though still a record-setting soaker. Here’s some earlier video of the rain and water accumulation from BabyBlue in NoVA:
2:53 PM (Photo by philliefan99 from the WeLoveDC group.) The center of storm rotation — not quite an “eye” as this isn’t a hurricane — is now passing just east of the District. Moderate to heavy rain is back downtown, and Manassas, VA rainfall now measures 10.6″.
2:29 PM News 8 has 9.46″ rainfall at Manassas, VA. This storm is a definite soaker.
2:10 PM Wow, radar showing some really, really serious rain in the Clarendon/Ballston area right now. Just a light shower downtown though. Huntington evacuations involved 30 homes in a community called Arlington Terrace.
2:00 PM On Metro, a service disruption on the Blue and Yellow Lines: No train service between Braddock Road and National Airport due to a track circuit malfunction and flood conditions outside Braddock Road station. Shuttle bus service has been requested. Delays in both directions. News 8 is saying this storm is a big rain maker, with not so much in the way of wind.
1:49 PM From @yvonneadams, “Annandale Falls,” a sidewalk turned stream. Reports on News Channel 8 of evacuation in Huntington, Alexandria. Manassas, VA is leading the rainfall totals with over 7 inches so far. Rain downtown has lightened again, and is projected to tone down to a drizzle as the afternoon goes on, but flash flood warnings remain.
1:14 PM This is a very fast-moving tropical storm, which will be a factor in keeping rainfall totals down. Still, expect totals of up to 8 inches in the area; currently almost 3″ at DCA. WaPo storm blog reports on the first storm-related death, a man whose car skidded off I-95 in PG County. He was killed but an infant child in the car survived.
12:30 PM Interestingly enough, the rain has weakened considerably downtown, but the wind is starting to pick up. My lower-floor apartment is shielded by buildings all around, but Wunderground has wind at DCA measuring 12 mph from ENE with gusts to 20 mph. “Addled” on Tumblr just tried going out into the storm to sign a form, and came back soaked with sandals waterlogged.
12:00 noon Now it is pouring buckets out! Still no noticeable wind, however; the flags atop buildings still hang limp. Flash Flood Watch for the District. High tide along the Potomac River will be at 1:45 PM, and a 2-4 foot storm surge may occur.
11:20 AM Raining outside, but not much wind yet. Capitalweather has the center of the storm over Norfolk, VA, with rain totals over 1″. This tweet would indicate planes are still landing at local airports, and FAA has National Airport delays at 15 minutes for takeoff and landing — expect that to get worse as the day marches on.
I haven’t checked the calendar, so I’m not sure if it’s a full moon or what, but I had the middle of my day wrecked a bit by the crazy with the bomb and gun who decided to park over by the Library of Congress.
The whole area was shutdown, with Independence blocked off by police, and I was part of a whole afternoon traffic jam as we tried to re-route around the whole thing.
Here’s what I wonder. I think that pretty much every jackass post-Tractorman has been such a legendary disappointment in their desire to do something radical and stupid in the Capital. I mean, if you’re going to get all crazy and try to “Do Something” maybe you should be a little more entertaining about it, if you have no intention of actually engaging in violence. So, what I’m wondering is: can anything like this frighten us? At all? Instead of just annoy us?
Not sure if you heard or not. I went to the supermarket on my lunch hour to stock up on some non-perishable items ad there was plenty of water and no elbowing or pushing, so I know people are not quite in emergency mode yet.
Disaster management experts recommend that you have at least three days of water and food per person socked away at home, in case you have to shelter in place for a while. Figure on two gallons of water per person per day for all things – drinking, cleaning and hygiene products from wastefreeproducts.com.
I know it’s still early in the day but it’s Friday, which means the boss is probably gone to hit the links before the storm ruins his golfing weekend. Take this opportunity to visit the supermarket before the elbowing and pushing start.
You likely won’t need all that you buy, but it’s better to be prepared. Having been through a hurricane in the past, I can tell you that a bit of preparedness really does pay off.
This is where I was going to say a little about Nerdcore for those who don’t know what it is, but really, if Tiff feels comfortable using XKCD comic clips here what are the odds you haven’t heard of it before?
If you’d like to learn more, however, there’s a “micro-documentary” – Nerdcore Rising – about the genre showing at UMD’s Hoff theater today and tomorrow. Sounds interesting and given the projected weather, a few hours under cover sound like a good plan…
WaPo’s Get There blog reports on WMATA’s preparations for the storm tomorrow, including sandbags around vent shafts over stations at high risk for flooding. Here are a few such sandbags outside Foggy Bottom Station:
Tomorrow is looking like a good day to stay in if you can. Got your bread and milk handy?
Randall Monroe of xkcd has given me a fantastic idea. Click through above to read the whole panel, and then come back and help me figure out what should go on my contentment protest signs. I’m going to keep them in the trunk of my car, because you never know when you’ll run into a random protest here in DC.
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann courtesy Flickr user kimberlyfaye
On the East side of Scott Circle at Massachusetts Ave. and Rhode Island Ave. NW, there’s a wide concrete and bronze monument to German physician Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. What an odd thing to memorialize in the capital of the United States, I thought. I vaguely recognized the name because of a high school friend who had been accepted to a medical school named for Dr. Hahnemann, but that was the extent of my knowledge. But as in all things, the Internet knows all.
Congratulations to DC United for their victory over Charleston Battery last night at RFK. Fred came through big for United, with the game-winner in the 50th minute of the contest. Congrats on the Dewar Cup, United, you continue to be our source of championship sports in this otherwise deprived environment.
My Lovely Wife and I took the tough step of having our kitty put to sleep this morning. She had been sick for quite some time and it was clear that the road ahead was going to be even tougher than it had been up to now. Enough suffering, we decided.
Many thanks to those of you who knew her for being her friend, even for a brief time. Especially to Dr. Monika Jankowski of South Paws, whose care and extreme compassion deeply moved me. She was incredible and showed herself to be more than a caretaker by profession but also by nature.
Remembering Connie, our wonderfully eccentric, lovable cat, I thought I would share this video of her, cleaning the window screen. She loved tasting the world and was a lovely, playful, adorable critter and we miss her deeply.
It may seem odd to launch our new recurring feature on DC’s watering holes with a nod to a mainly non-alcoholic spot, but make no mistake – Teaism can just as quickly become an addiction on par with your favorite bar. Though the food can be some of the most reliable in town (oh, that salmon ochazuke soup! comfort in a bowl), we’re here to talk about its liquid libation. Devotees of tea are never disappointed when
faced with the exhaustive menu of black, green, tisanes – served iced or hot – from a wall of colorful boxes.
There are three Teaisms in DC (Dupont Circle is the original, opened back in 1996). I’m lucky in that my office is equidistant from two, each with their own distinct vibe. The Lafayette Park location has a sunny classical interior, befitting its Decatur House view, and is usually full of suits. Whereas the Penn Quarter branch has mainly subterranean seating, bustling with tourists. Despite the setback of the fannypack crowd, the PQ boasts a koi pond and an adjacent tea shop where the true addict can load up on her own supply to brew at home.
If I head to Penn Quarter, I’m most likely desiring an iced Japanese sweet green tea to takeaway and sip while staring into the nearby fountains of the Navy Memorial. “What makes it so sweet?” I asked the tea shop lady once about the surreally green elixir, “is it a special kind of tea?” “Um,” she replied, “you do know there’s a lot of sugar in there, right?” It was a truly blonde moment. Continue reading →
More Bars in More Places is what AT&T advertises its customers, but today it didn’t matter how many bars showed up on your cellphone, chances are, it had no access to the data network that let mobile applications function. The result looked a lot like what happens when RIM’s network went down.
I know my phone was ringing off the hook with frustrated clients with iPhones who couldn’t see the internet. Rough day for DC, and the outages continue tonight variably. We aren’t alone, though, New York & most of the eastern seaboard is lumped together as part of the same outage.
In her “occasional column” for the Post today, former restaurant critic Phyllis Richman rants about the practice of pouncing on diner’s dishes the moment a member of the restaurant staff suspects they might not be in use.
I chuckled at it because I always thought the absolutely most egregious offender was our very own Four Courts in Arlington. Every week, a group of us would gather for pub quiz, and every week, you practically had to throw your body on top of your dinner plate any time a busboy (bus-man? bus-person?) came anywhere near the table.
Thankfully for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area, Hurricane Gustav was not another Katrina, and the area seems to have come out of the wind and rain mostly intact. Now we turn our sights to the next storm in line, Tropical Storm Hanna, whose projected track hugs the east coast pretty closely, bringing the eye close to, if not directly over, Washington, DC. Continue reading →
Yesterday was “Terrible Traffic Tuesday” – the dreaded day after Labor Day when everyone in the region hits the rush hour roads after the summer stretch of vacations.
When Murky closed their Capitol Hill location had their DC location seized by tax authorities, it was a sad day for DC, losing a great coffee shop. However, from the ashes of Murky rises Peregrine Espresso in their old location. With new fixtures and equipment, some beautiful ceramic-ware, and some of the same faces you might have recognized from the old Murky are running the show here at Peregrine.
The coffee is delicious this morning, and they offer more than just mere coffee: a selection of tasty sodas and pastries (including baguette and jam, which sounds like a great breakfast), as well as granola with yogurt. Coffee comes in One Size, and while one size may not fit all, I don’t see this as generating another controversy like the Coffee Kerfuffle this summer.
Come on down, it’s good stuff.
Peregrine Espresso
660 Pennsylvania Ave SE (just down from Eastern Market)
Washington DC
Okay, I know. Usually in this feature we talk about some fantastic new place we just tried, some culinary delights we had heretofore not considered, and here I am talking about Luna Grill and Diner. And really, is there anyone left in DC who hasn’t eaten at Luna?
(If you are in DC and haven’t yet gone to Luna, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Go now. Don’t worry, you can finish reading We Love DC when you get back; we’ll still be here.)
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