Join the Impact has finalized the location for the DC protest against Prop 8 that turned thumbs down on same-sex marriage in California on November 4 (and the three similar measures in Arizona, Arkansas, and Florida).

Where:  The Reflecting Pool in front of the US Capitol Building

When:  Saturday, November 15, 1:30 pm

The point of this gathering–of this whole movement, with protests in every state on Saturday–is positive and fun.  This is not about h8 or blame, but looks forward toward to what needs to be done now to achieve one goal: Full equality for ALL.

There will likely be a similar proposal on the DC ballot next year, so this will be an interesting test of the mandate for change, as well as the opportunity for a fascinating political discussion on what is meant by “separate but equal” and “civil rights”.  Last I checked, those are pretty fundamental concepts in the District.

If you haven’t seen Keith Olbermann’s commentary on the issue, it’s certainly worth a gander.  And if you’re as touched by this as I am, join us on Facebook, and I hope to see you there.

Courtesy of zjbell51

The Nationals made the first big splash of the offseason yesterday by trading second baseman Emilio Bonifacio and two minor leaguers to the Florida Marlins for outfielder Josh Willingham and pitcher Scott Olsen.

My first thought was that Willingham had been acquired as a catcher (he came up to the majors in that position and I had earlier mentioned that Jose Flores could be upgraded during the offseason). Jim Bowden was quick to point out that the Nats had “acquired him as an outfielder.” This means two things in my view. Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena need to either be demoted to the minor leagues or traded before spring training. Both guys want and need a full time job, and it will do a lot to help team chamistry if they are out of the way. By the way, why do the Nats have six outfielders?

Tim Dierkes ventured a guess that “maybe the Nats consider Josh Willingham their cleanup hitter acquisition and will back out of the Teixeira derby.” Newsflash: Josh Willingham is not a cleanup hitter, Jim Bowden. A good year will probably yield 30 homeruns and 100 RBI’s, but that is not showstopper material. As for Mark Teixeira, I have a really hard time imagining that the Nationals will be able to compete for his services, especially with the Yankees and Angels (among others) preparing to make offers that will likely make Teixeira a franchise player somewhere. While I would agree that with the bounty of outfielders in Washington this probably puts a damper on Adam Dunn rumors (darn), I would say that the Nationals need a headliner if they want to fill the seats and make a serious run in the NL East.

All in all this is a great trade for the Nationals. Olsen will fill the rotation hole that I had previously reserved for Mets free agent Oliver Perez and I am confident that both players have the similar upside. Willingham is a major upgrade to Kearns, Pena, and Willie Harris as well. At this point, I still want to see the Nationals sign an ace: looking at guys like Freddy Garcia, who are comebackers that can actually be wooed to DC, would be a great idea. Consensus says that the second base hole will be filled by Anderson Hernandez, who finished strong last season.

Where does the power bat fit then? First base is always a possibility, but aside from Teixeira, the only cleanup hitter in the market is Jason Giambi, who would bring nothing new or exciting to the table and is 38 years old. Not a great option for the Nats if you ask me, but if they can sign him for a very cheap two year contract he may be happy and the Nats would get 30 homeruns in return. Assuming that first base is out, that leaves the outfield. I want to see a guy like Adam Dunn or Manny Ramirez in DC. Badly. The Nats need to put themselves on the map with a big name, because let’s face it, the Nats are not the Rays yet and need the kind of boost only a superstar can offer.

More to come on the Nats.

UPDATE [9:04am]: Tim Brown over at Yahoo comments on the Nationals and Manny Ramirez- “After witnessing Manny Ramirez’s impact on the Dodgers and their fans, the Washington Nationals and GM Jim Bowden are promising everyone they’re going to be players in the Manny bidding. So either they will be or they want everyone to think they are.”

It was the one race I thought the Nats could win.

Last year people were talking about the Nationals losing 100 games. Luckily they finished at 73-89, just above the Florida Marlins. There was some hope that maybe they could return to their glory days of 2005 (when they finished 81-81).

Unfortunately things haven’t been going well this season and once again the Nationals are expected to lose 100 games this year. However with their loss to the Angels last night, the Mariners become the first to lose 100 games. Even when it comes to futility the Nationals can’t win.

The Washington Times has an in-depth list of all the problems with the Nationals, from play on the field to problems with ordering office supplies. I’ve heard the Nationals described as a “glorified farm team” and while I want to defend that description- if you get in trouble for ordering too many pencils you must be a farm team.

I’d say there’s always next year but you need to actually have to have prospects in the farm system for their to be a future.

From Nats Picnic at the Park

Good Morning Washington-

Another week of banging our heads against our collective desks is upon us.  Hopefully you had a little fun in the wonderful weather this past weekend.  I, for one, made it over to Nationals Park on Saturday afternoon to attend the “Picnic in the Park” hosted by the Washington Nationals.  Open to season ticket holders (I had a 20 game package) the Nationals threw open not just the front gates but granted access to all sorts of parts of the park usually off limits.

Freebies, raffles, players signing autographs all over the park, walking tours of the Diamond Club and President’s club boxes (which really is more like a class restaurant that just happens to have access to home plate seats) and, oh yeah, getting to run the friggin’ bases and sit in the dugout! made for one of my favorite trips to a ballpark, any ballpark, ever.  We also got to walk around the outfield, throw a pitch in the bullpen (which I didn’t do-line was too long) and sit in any seat in the house we wanted.  For those that haven’t had the luxury, let me share what I’ve learned:

-Hitting the ball to the outfield, let alone to the warning track or a home run, is really far.  When you’re on the ground you can see it’s a lot farther than it seems from the seats.

-Same with the 90 ft between bases.

-the ground base paths are pretty firm, and the grass is actually beautiful up close.

-The seats down by home plate?  They have cushioned seats and backing-they are also wider I think.

-Being in the President’s box is in no way a “true” or “genuine” going to the ball game experience.   You wouldn’t even know there was a field there if someone didn’t tell you.  That said, I fully intend on somehow doing it next year.

The only thing we didn’t see that I would have liked to was the press box and to walk on the grass-but with a game on Saturday night (the second of three straight losses to the Padres) it was understandable that they kept us off it.  While I’m sure it wasn’t even close to the emotional/cool factor of walking around Yankee’s Stadium on Sunday it was pretty special for me and I hope to do it again.  My personal pics are available via the link above (not a photographer keep in mind) and the Nationals can be seen just three more times as a team in DC this year as they roll over for host the Florida Marlins this week. (A good chance to see our 100th loss this season up close and personal.  Don’t worry, you’ll be able to tell them that “you were there when…” someday.)

If you didn’t read the chat I linked in yesterday’s post, you might have missed my old cow-orker Andy shamelessly attempting to shill his archive site.

D.C. Here I Come, FL: How ironic would it be if someone from South Florida placed in the Hunt, knowing what the prizes are?

Is there a Webs ite with more information?

“Not Andy the tropichunt.com guy¿”

Really.

Okay, maybe it is.

washingtonpost.com: Post Hunt

Gene Weingarten: True fact: One team has won three times. They’ll be coming in. From Seattle.

Although the chat coor-dinators did take kind of a swipe at him by reposting the Post Tropic Hunt website url rather than the link to the Tropic/Herald Hunt Archives, as he was angling for, they did not have the knowledge to point out to him that he’s never won the Hunt once. Or been close. Even a little. Maybe because he’d imply that it would be ironic for someone from South Florida to win a trip to South Florida rather than simply unfortunate.

I can’t believe I agreed to team with someone who takes his vocabulary lessons from Alanis.

Phew, another week in DC! Things never seem to get boring around here do they?

• We’ve got the Wizards pulling off a stunner against Cleveland to survive one more day in the NBA playoffs. Good luck tonight fellas. Let’s hope that Queen James doesn’t decide to open up a can of whoopass and dunk on your heads. Here are some tips for winning: play some aggressive D, drive to the hole, make your foul shots, and rebound for Rodman’s sake!
• Deborah Jeanne Palfrey, the ‘DC Madam’, hung herself with some rope in a shed down in Florida. While suicide is not exactly the best way to solve your problems, I don’t feel sad for Deborah like a lot of people do. She got herself into her mess and then came up with a way to get herself out of it. Now if somehow we find out that there was foul play involved…that’s entirely different.
• Taxis started installing meters. And by ‘taxis’, I mean about six of them. Cabbies are dragging their feet when it comes to installing them, claiming their income will be drastically reduced. And that’s my problem how? I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to trick the system, like taking the long way around town or by choosing streets that are known for traffic jams.
• People lined up like starving wolves for free ice cream cones at Ben & Jerry’s. Baskin Robbins tried to follow that up by selling $0.31 scoops, but don’t they understand that nothing is better than free, and that people don’t want four pennies in change?
• There was a shootout at a school in NE DC. None of the victims died thankfully, but did this make the national news? It’s shame that people are so immune to hearing about shootings in DC. If this had happened in some place like, I dunno, Taos, CNN would have been on the scene faster than Wolf Blitzer’s beard grows.

What did I miss? You know, when some of us move out of DC to some place like, I dunno, Taos…life is going to be pretty boring in comparison. I can’t wait to see what happens next week! Hopefully less shooting and more free ice cream.

Photo by rsplatpc

Barely a year after she forced a Deputy Secretary of State out of his job by selling her phone records to the media, authorities believe the DC Madam, Deborah Jeanne Palfrey, has committed suicide at her mother’s Florida home.

As DC Metblog alumnus brownpau points out, Palfrey’s Wikipedia page is already seeing a spike in edits.

I’m sure some of you have come to the conclusion that I like beating up on WaPo. Really, nothing is farther from the truth and overall I have a positive opinion of the paper, particularly compared to the yellow rag that the Miami Herald had become by the time I moved here six years ago.

Unfortunately today I find myself annoyed with one of the sections that normally I find above average - Health. I was a little perturbed that the story on the debate about plastics made no mention of the tremendous impact plastic has had on the safety of health care, but the real offense in the section was about a plastic surgery.

Well, it would have been a story about that if WaPo writer Sandra G. Boodman hasn’t just vomited Newsweek’s original bit of scandal manufacturing back up without a hint of journalistic rigor or effort. The reality of this story - not presented anywhere in the original Newsweek piece or Boodman’s uncredited paraphrasing - is that this is a book published by a vanity press and authored by a Florida plastic surgeon for his own clients. This plastic surgeon actually does some good outreach to the public on plastic surgery, though somehow that link didn’t make it into the story: I guess talking about articles covering sun damage and porta-cath scars doesn’t sell papers.

Personally I think we have some… interesting attitudes about beauty and aging in the US, and it’s a subject that could do with some quality discussion. This isn’t it. If you’re interested in more detail about why this is a non-story, Teresa Neilsen Hayden spells out the situation in great detail here… in a post from about a week ago, which Boodman could probably have found if she’d taken longer than 4 minutes to re-use Newsweek’s story. The meat of the matter:

Big Tent Books … is a vanity press and marketing and fulfillment operation. It pretends it’s separate from another company called Dragonpencil—in theory, Big Tent is a marketing and distribution firm, and Dragonpencil is a publisher—but they’re really a single organization run by Jerry and Samantha Setzer. The two companies have the same address and phone number. Big Tent’s award-winning books get all their awards from Dragonpencil. Dragonpencil’s deluxe publishing package includes marketing and distribution by Big Tent. And if you poke around their sites long enough, you can find the page where they admit it.

Big Tent/Dragonpencil has the usual problem of vanity presses: zero to lousy sales and distribution. They’re a lot better at making books than they are at promoting them. Only a few of their titles are even listed at Amazon, and those are listed badly—half the normal publisher-furnished information is missing. Sales are minimal.

My Beautiful Mommy is not one of the books Big Tent lists on Amazon.

In other words, this story about shilling to children isn’t at all a case where anyone was shilling to chilren. Dr Michael Salzhauer’s book - which includes a surgeon named Dr Michael, in case you were wondering whether he really meant it for his patients - is for people who already have made the decision to have plastic surgery.

Or maybe Newsweek and Boodman think that books written about death for a child’s perspective are promoting kids being accepting of dying?

I love playoff hockey.

Yes, yes, I know. It’s not quite yet time for the Cup race to begin - but this last week of the regular season might as well be the start of the playoffs.

It’s been a while since the NHL’s had such a tight race down to the wire, and the local boys have just as much at stake right now as any of the other five teams also fighting for their playoff lives - and the extra money those games bring into team coffers.

Carolina, Ottawa, New York (Rangers), Boston and Philadelphia can all see their playoff races end in success or failure alongside the Washington Capitals in these final days. And it may well come down to the final minutes of the final games this weekend before the playoff picture is settled once and for all.

The Capitals have been spectacular of late. Arguably, since the trade deadline. Since George McPhee pulled some magic out of the hat and snagged Huet, Federov, and Cooke for a fantastic end-season run, including a brilliant 5-1 series of games away from the Verizon Center, the Caps have looked 180 degrees different than the start of the season.

Scoreboard watching is about as interesting at Caps games as it is watching Huet stone opponents with spectacular saves.

I’ve got to hand it to Ovechkin - not only has the “Big O” pretty much nabbed the goal scoring and points titles, he’s led a remarkably mediocore team from the start of the year to a surging and dynamic playoff hopeful.

Now it is true I’m not a huge Caps fan, simply because of my (still strong) allegiance to the team of my youth. But I love great hockey above all else, and with a smorgasboard of games this week - many with playoff hopes on the line - I will be watching with interest the Caps final run of the season. Yes, they have to win all three home games against Carolina, Tampa and Florida PLUS see one of the five still in contention somehow implode in order to make it to Lord Stanley’s dance…. But I have to say, I’m fairly optimistic the Caps will see a return to the playoffs this year.

I’ll be attending Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay and looking forward to the thrill of playoff hockey. Even if just a taste of it.

It’s been too long, Washington. Let’s hope this year is the one that welcomes you back into the frozen elite.

OS Test 23, courtesy of YoLoPey

This just in, DC-based XM and New York-based Sirius’s planned merger has been approved by the Department of Justice, meaning that only the FCC can step in to stop the merger between the two satellite radio companies. I’m not sure if it’s been said yet where the new company will be based, but I suspect that XM’s Florida Avenue facility will remain in place as part of the new network’s planned operations center.