‘Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)’
courtesy of ‘Tim Green aka atoach’

So a bunch of farmers were arrested outside of DEA headquarters yesterday. “For what?” I hear you ask… They were trying to plant hemp seeds on the DEA’s lawn. To protest against the ban on growing hemp.

Hemp, as you probably know, is related to marijuana, and although it doesn’t actually have any psychoactive effects itself, its cultivation is banned in the US as part of the War on Some Drugs. All hemp products in the US have to be imported from other countries, once the plant has been turned into rope or fabric or whatever, lest some idiot try to smoke something that won’t actually get you high.

I’m sympathetic to the farmers (in case you couldn’t guess), but really? Showing up in a mob outside a government agency brandishing shovels? Maybe not the best form of civil disobedience you could have chosen, eh?

‘preakness 086 rachel alexandra’
courtesy of ‘apium’

Perhaps you skipped the Preakness race this past May, along with the approximately 40,000 others who chose not to return in 2009, due to a new policy prohibiting BYOB. Well, rest assured, you didn’t miss your last chance. The race will return in 2010 for it’s 101st year in Maryland. Whether or not the beer policies will continue is still TBD.

The bankrupt holding firm of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Magna Entertainment Corp., is selling the ownership of the race, but said it will not consider auction bids that would remove it from the state of Maryland. In April, concern over the 20,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in revenue that Maryland would lose if Preakness were to leave the state prompted Maryland lawmakers to give Maryland the supreme authority to buy the race.

WaPo reports that Baltimore developer David Cordish and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos have both expressed an interest in keeping the race alive and well at Pimlico.

‘Cathy Lanier’
courtesy of ‘Women_in_Uniform’

The City Paper‘s City Desk blog has a really informative entry on exactly why Chief Cathy Lanier deserves the credit for the District’s rapidly dropping homicide rate. They cite an increased emphasis on arresting suspects in non-lethal shootings (this one seems like a no-brainer; was this really not a priority previously?), and aggressively managing and encouraging communication between all the various police sub-groups that could have information about particular gangs, neighborhoods, and persons of interest. The CP specifically dismisses “All Hands On Deck” as a possible factor.

The whole entry is worth reading, if only for the excellent use of the verb form of “beef.”

‘2008’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Since “social media douchebag” is one of the many professional hats I wear, I was particularly interested to see that George Washington University has been ranked the top most active university on Twitter. More interesting, though, was that they attained that distinction by using Twitter to post interesting content, rather than just hooking up an RSS feed to a Twitter account and never thinking about it again. Which pleases me, because I’m pretty astonished that anyone thinks a Twitter account full of university press releases could actually be interesting.

Hooker ads, slighty legitimized
courtesy of Me

We told you when the council published their proposed rules governing massage establishments last month and last Friday they went into effect. WaPo seems to have gotten the memo and the three ads above were the only ones in today’s print edition of the sports page. That’s half the quantity MediaBistro noted in their hooker ad count two years ago and none are actually in DC, where the statute is in place.

Anyone have a week or two old Post sports section to check if there had been any surviving DC-area parlor ads before the law went into effect?

‘NMAI South Facade’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

I just noticed a mention on twitter that the cornerstone for the White House was laid on October 13, 1792: 217 years ago today. It would take another eight years before it was completed and one of our presidents would move in.

The facts I’ve found in my searches about the cornerstone have included a lot of interesting information (the stone and the foundation were largely built by slaves and freed slaves) and even an article about this anniversary on Politico. But no pictures of the cornerstone. Any of you history or architecture buffs know where on the building it is? Is it visible to the general public? At all? There was no big ceremony, so does the stone lack other adornment?

‘Howard University Hospital’
courtesy of ‘brownpau’

After a week in intensive care, Marion Barry has has been released from the hospital. He released a short statement thanking God and his Doctors for returning him to good health again. No statement from the council has been released.

Personally, I was kinda hoping he was going to step down for health reasons, but then I remembered it was Marion Barry and he’ll be in office til he dies or his constituents wake up and recognize who they’re putting into office.

‘Washington Sunrise HDR’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

We love, love, love our photographers here at We Love DC, and our super awesome pool of photographers contribute a ton to this site. So, when friends of ours like Derrick Story come to town and bring with them deep discounts on local Photoshop Conferences, we like to try to repay the favor. Check out Derrick’s site for all the details, but you can either win a free pass to Photoshop Live (worth $295!) or get all the details on a less-than-half-price ticket to the event on November 2nd & 3rd. We’ll also be planning a photowalk with Derrick in the coming weeks! Give us ideas as to where you’d like to go exploring in the comments!

So what’s up with that, Ben’s Chilli Bowl? The infamous sign indicating who eats for free at Ben’s has gone through a few changes over the years. The classic one said that only Ben Cosby eats free was replaced last year with one that said Bill Cosby and the Obama Family. Sometime since the sign (pictured above, click to enlarge) has been changed again to say

WHO EATS FOR FREE AT BEN’S
BILL COSBY
MICHELLE, MALIA & SASHA OBAMA

NOT PRESIDENT OBAMA
BECAUSE BILL COSBY SAYS SO!!!!

THE MANAGEMENT

No, we have no idea either. The counter staff working today said they didn’t know what the deal was.

UPDATE: WLDC Alum Brittany points us to this Meet the Press video where Bill Cosby says that President Obama hasn’t earned the free eats at Ben’s yet. Let me point out that he says he doesn’t mind Michelle and her mother eating for free but the sign omits Mrs Robinson (what do you say?) but includes the Obama daughters.

‘Union Station Stereo’
courtesy of ‘rgb48’

Like many folks in DC, I am hard at work today, but it’s not been all bad. Working on some of the lesser-observed federal holidays is pretty easy for a couple of different reasons:

Free Parking: Street Parking is free today, so as long as you can find a spot, you don’t have to feed the meter, which is just glorious.

No Traffic: Seriously, if you didn’t zoom right into the city today, chances are that’s your fault and not the traffic’s for once. I was in the city today in record time, and that’s always an awesome feeling.

No Phone Calls: I think the best part about working in this town on Federal Holidays is the blessed silence of the desk phone. While a few people are working today, chances are? They’re not calling you for the same reason you’re not getting called. Who the hell keeps track of who’s working today? It’s a crap shoot!

Sure, there are downsides, too, but the upsides are there. What’s your silver lining in this dark cloud?

”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Not only did the Circulator route from downtown to Georgetown not get curtailed after all, but now there’s talk of adding a Circulator between Rosslyn and Georgetown to replace the Blue Bus, run by the Georgetown BID. The idea is that the new Circulator route would run on the same schedule as the current Blue Bus, since the BID started the Blue Bus as a demonstration project to prove the demand for transit in Georgetown, and has been hoping for a more permanent solution for some time.

‘747’
courtesy of ‘Paul L. Nettles’

I really hesitate to tell you this (so as to improve my own chances of getting tickets), but I wouldn’t feel right about hiding it from you. This year’s DC Labor Filmfest is going to feature Office Space, and in honor of the 10th anniversary of the movie that made the Ghetto Boys’ “Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta” the anthem of cube-dwellers everywhere, Gary Cole (Lumbergh) and Stephen Root (Milton) will be appearing at the screening. there will, of course, be a red Swingline raffle as well. There’s a free showing at Georgetown’s ICC Auditorium on Friday, October 16th, and a ticketed showing at AFI Silver on Saturday the 17th.

Seems like a smart move for DC Labor to target white collar workers who may not think the labor movement is relevant to them by using Office Space. (Hat tip to WBJ’s “Working the Room” blog for the heads-up.)