I really don’t understand why The Post chose to run this meandering, uninteresting, ignorance-celebrating piece on Monday. At least with the global warming nay-sayers you get clear statements about what consequences of regulation they fear. I might or might not think they have a point, but at least they have one. Instead we get here a column from Emily Yoffe, who has told us in the past how she tests out at a first-grade level with regards to math skills. I don’t think I’m going on on a limb here in thinking that someone who didn’t make it up to percentages doesn’t have a great grasp of the scientific method, much less a finger on the pulse of the scientific community and a grasp of what’s knowable or not.

I can only hope that once she takes a rudimentary class on addition she’ll take a few minutes to read David Brin’s piece over here about global warming matters. He was writing in response to naysayers rather than know-nothing-ers, but he is going out of his way not to get into a battle of facts and instead talks about what we know and why, cutting right the vaguely heart-like-thing of the second-half-ish-part of Yoffe’s article. Perhaps it’ll convince Ms Yoffe that even though she might be willfully ignorant about science that doesn’t mean everyone is, though I get the sense that she’ll turn up her nose at anyone who actually studied science. What could they know?

If Brin uses too many scientific words like “emissions” and “ecosystems” for Ms Yoffe then maybe she can consider this instead: if you’re going to go around stating that you won’t trust a weather projection for 2080 because “no one can offer me one for August 2008″ then I’d like you to similarly refuse to trust a projection about the economy because nobody can tell you exactly how many loaves of bread will be sold at your corner store next week. Macro studies are different than Micro studies.

When was the last time you went to the city dump? As a kid, I remember going there often with my Dad when we worked construction jobs and often we would come back with more than we left with – one man’s trash is another man’s treasure (and his wife’s displeasure).

Trash Transfer @ Fort Totten

Recently I had old bricks and junk no one would find a treasure. The bricks were all covered in concrete and oddly, seemingly rotten. Anyway, it was time for a trip to the dump, or as they are called in DC, waste transfer stations. The nearest one to me is the Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station.

When you drive up, don’t expect to be on a ramp over dumpsters, like in many rural areas, or a covered building like in other cities. DC is still working on building a proper city dump at Fort Totten and is using a flat cement expanse and a bulldozer + crane in the mean time.

So when you arrive, just pull your truck up to the existing pile and offload. Do watch for rusty nails – one almost got me – and loose debris.

And whatever you do, don’t bring anything back from the dump except an empty truck!

All four original members

Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge.

I got an email late yesterday afternoon from a friend. “So, I’ve got an extra ticket for Asia at the Birchmere tonight. Want to be my date?” Since I don’t get to see this friend all that often, and since I’m always up for a good dose of geriatric 80s rock, I immediately agreed.

You know you’re in for a quality concert experience when the band advertises “ALL FOUR ORIGINAL MEMBERS” right there on the ticket. About halfway through the show, the lead singer thanked the audience for “keepin’ the faith for 25 years!” (In case you’re wondering, I’m 28, and was easily one of the youngest people in the room by 10 years.)

Since I wasn’t that huge of an Asia fan to begin with, I’ll dispense with the detailed concert review and tell you this:

It was the only time in my adult life in which I witnessed a non-ironic use of the keytar.

But it was a pretty good show- it got a little surreal when they covered The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” (I realize that Asia is a supergroup and that the keyboardist was from The Buggles, but that didn’t make it any less surreal) but they nailed each song, including the encore performance of “In the Heat of the Moment.” Someone needs to help them update their video screen graphical effects though- the band was not the only thing from the 80s, is all I’m trying to say.

Mosquito photo by dhyanji

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I will be discussing them in a six-part series.

Okay. Here’s the deal, folks. I don’t want to get voted out of the MBDC group for yapping my trap about how West Nile Virus (WNV) is not really a problem. It is an issue, but not as big of one as it is built up to be.

119 people in the US died in 2005 from WNV. That’s a lot, you might say, but not in comparison to the 36,000 people who die each year from influenza, the 559,650 people who are predicted to die from cancer this year or the 2.9 million AIDS-related deaths last year.

So when we hear about WNV on the news and get all up in arms, it’s a little skewed. WNV is not as big a problem as it seems to be, in comparison with other maladies. We have bigger fish to fry when it comes to disease prevention. Sure, we should be taking measures against it and there is a lot that we can do to avoid it, but let’s keep it all in perspective.

Check in tomorrow to read about Tip #2: Take Control.

Two weeks ago, we picked up the story of Chip Py, a long time Montgomery County resident who was barred from taking pictures in Downtown Silver Spring.

Both outraged and inspired by the incident, we’re organizing a Silver Spring Photo Walk via Free Our Streets to show our support of photography and our annoyance with the use of public lands restricted by private developers.

Downtown Silver Spring by Chip Py

If you too find yourself

• harrased when photographing people
• told to stop by security guards
• or even arrested for photography

and/or you are generally angry that taxpayer-supported urban renewal projects are leased to developers who then curtail First Amendment rights on quasi-public property, then come join us for:

Downtown Silver Spring Photo Walk
a declaration of photographic freedom
Wednesday, July 4, 2007 @ 12:00pm – Noon

We’ve been talking a lot about passport problems that last few weeks. Lines, lines, and oh, some more lines.

I work at19th and L, just around the corner from our friendly regional passport office, so I see the line first hand almost every day – but it’s especially painful to watch the line on Fridays, when I think some believe the line will be shorter. Or, maybe it’s easier to take off a few hours to stand in line on a Friday. That’s what I planned to do… until I did a little research on where I could get my passport taken care of.

See, if you’re like me, you have a passport but let it expire, but then still thought you were in the clear for a new one by mail. Oh no, no you aren’t – not if you got your first passport prior to age 16, which I did. So, while it was only a little expired, I had to go in person because of the age issue.

So I looked here to see where else I might be able to get this thing taken care of. This last Saturday I got to my local post office just after 9 a.m., stood in line behind one couple waiting to do their infant’s passport, gave the nice woman helping me all my materials, and was on my way and back in my car by 9:20 a.m.

Please, help yourself and others – if you can get somewhere besides the DC regional office, go. It will take less time, and save time for those whose needs require them to go to the regional office. Plus, it’s gross and sweaty and hot out there. Post Offices have A/C. I’m just saying.

Anyone with even the slightest gadget fetish knows the iPhones come out on Friday at 6pm at Apple and AT&T Wireless Stores. Folks in NYC are already lining up outside their stores to get one. Crazy? Sure. But that’s where Metblogs comes in. We went ahead and got the goods on where the iPhones are going to be coming out on Friday. Each Apple Store (there are several in the area) is going to get a shipment of phones, but no one is telling how many each store is getting. So, here it comes folks, click through to check out our sweet sweet Google Maps Mashup of spots to get your iPhone!

Update: Now the map displays properly, and a few of the bubbles have been moved to their proper spots.
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What does this photo make you think of? Hopefully the 2007 MBDC BBQ!

That’s right, this weekend we will be celebrating three years of Metroblogging DC in the best way possible: food, fun, and pinatas on Sunday, July 1st at 6pm in the MBDC BBQ HQ.

Your favorite MBDC authors will be there for witting conversation, total mockery for spelling and ideological errors, and to just mingle with the folks we’d like to thank for reading.

Oh and photography will be allowed and encouraged as long as you RSVP and invite local bloggers.

The City of Falls Church has a cooling assistance program to help low-income households stay cool in the heat of the summer. Thank goodness we haven’t gotten too hot yet, but the dog days of summer are right around the corner. No doubt it will get hot enough to cook the balls off many a bronze statue in DC.

Why is cooling assistance important? Because the extreme heat we feel every year causes health problems and extreme discomfort. Kudos to Falls Church for administering this program. Having seen a number of extremely low-income abodes in my time, I have to wonder how much it would cost to upgrade the wiring to handle an air conditioner, but that’s beside the point. Probably tarpaper shacks smolder instead of burn, right?

Personally, I think there should be more of a socialized ceiling fan program than air conditioning program, but that’s just me. I like our home to feel like Big Daddy and Brick’s home, except for all that tension and the no-neck monsters.

Until I get my own socially provided ceiling fan, I will be cooling off the only way I know how – either sitting in the yard in a tub of ice water, sipping a beer, or else making every day like pants-optional Friday. Who knows? Maybe both, if the neighbors don’t mind too much.

Google Street View in DC

To those who wonder if taking picture of people on public streets without their permission is legal, may I present to you a massive street-level photography effort: Google Street View.

Google is taking continuous photographs of Washington DC streets for their Google Maps application, photographs that are capturing all kinds of people, places and things, perfectly legally.

And its perfectly legal for Andy Carvin to turn the lens around and photograph the Google street view car.

So remember, photography is NOT a crime and to prove it, you should join Metroblogging DC in a declaration of photographic freedom, a Silver Spring Photo Walk on the best day possible: July 4th.