"Acela train sign" courtesy of Flickr user Savannah Grandfather

We all know that Joe Biden takes the train from Wilmington to Washington DC every day- if you don’t then you’ve been living under a rock.

If you have been you’ve also missed a whole lot more than that.

If you haven’t read my friend’s post from yesterday it looks like President-Elect Obama is taking a page out of his running mate’s playbook. The Inauguration committee has just announced that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will kicking off the inauguration with a series of events being held in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The two will travel by train and will end their pre-inaugural rock tour in Washington D.C. After all, there’s nothing like a little train ride to hype up the already hyped Inauguration. I do however like the idea of spreading Inauguration out beyond the borders of Washington D.C. I wonder if this means the millions of people that will descend upon D.C. this year will try and hit up Baltimore on their way down. They could use the support.

Whether or not you decide to follow Obama on tour before the Inauguration, the only place you can’t be before Inauguration is The Mall. Several Federal officials have announced that overnight camping will not be allowed on The Mall. Also if you are going to try and stake out a spot for the Parade you will not be allowed to do so until 7 AM that morning.

While we are talking about things we can’t do- I just found this Washington Post article that discusses transportation options around Inauguration. It’s a good guide to refer to for anyone thinking about coming out for the swearing in. I’m very disappointed to hear that bicycles will not be allowed within the security cordon that has yet to be determined. That was going to be my strategy for avoiding the Metro. It seems as if walking is the best way to get anywhere- even in and out of the city. I can see it now, a scene straight out of Cloverfield, thousands of people trying to find an open bridge to walk across to escape DC.

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The George Washington University will be riding a float built by students in the Inaugural Parade for the first time since 1949, when they participated in Harry Truman’s Inaugural festivities. The float is designed to encompass GW’s various schools and colleges. Among the attractions on the float are a twelve foot inflatable globe that will be rotating six feet above the Elliot School of International Affairs section, a live stock ticker in the School of Business Section, students building a mini-Baja automobile in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences section, and live filming of the crowd on to an LCD monitor in the School of Media and Public Affairs section.

All in all, a group of 40+ students and administrators will be riding the float, joined by family members of the alumni who rode the GW float sixty years ago. The idea of the float is not only to represent The George Washington University, which is central to the political scene, but to represent higher education as a whole; GW is the only university in the country that will build and ride a float in the parade.

The GW application to the Joint Congressional Committee for Inaugural Festivities was supplemented by enthusiastic letters of support from alumns Senator Harry Reid and Congressman Robert Wechsler. “The application process could not have gone more smoothly,” according to GW Student Body President Vishal A. Aswani. “The upcoming Inauguration will be a momentous national occasion, and students here are thrilled that The George Washington University will play such a central role in the festivities.”

Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Delegate to U.S. House

With the new Senate and a new President due to take office in January, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton feels confident that she will finally be able to win voting rights in Congress for the District of Columbia.

According to NBC Washington, Norton estimates that 65 Senators will support her Voting Rights Act of 2009 out of only 60 needed to pass the bill. According to Norton, President-Elect Obama personally told her that he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

If DC does manage to get the vote, I would hope that it breaks from tradition and elects competent officials to serve in Congress. Eleanor Holmes Norton is a fine example, shadow Senator Paul Strauss is not. At all.

baby tomatoes @ dupont farmer’s market
Originally uploaded by gingher

Discouraged by the slim pickings at your local Safeway and Giant? Worried about FDA warnings about Salmonella contamination of fruits and vegetables? Don’t want to spend more than $1 per orange at Whole Foods?

Support local growers and buy your produce at one of DC’s many farmer’s markets this weekend.

Saturday 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Adam’s Morgan
18th Street and Columbia Road, NW

Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Chevy Chase
Broad Road and Northampton Street, NW

Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Heritage Park
Division Avenue and Foote Streets, NE

Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
U Street
14th and U Streets, NW

Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Mount Pleasant
Lamont Park

Saturday and Sunday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
Eastern Market
7th and C Streets, SE

Sunday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Dupont Circle
20th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW

The Supreme Court has upheld the opinion of the DC Circuit Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruling that DC’s ban on handguns is unconstitutional. Specifically, it is the opinion of the court that there is an individual right accorded by the 2nd amendment, not to be infringed upon by any act of the legislature. In addition, it is the opinion of the court that the ban on storing shotguns and rifles in a disassembled or trigger-locked state is also unconstitutional.

There will be a response from the city shortly.

You can read the Opinion written by Justice Scalia. The Dissenting Opinions are after the Majority Opinion, beginning on page 68 and 114. The big quote from syllabus is this one, which affirms that citizens have a constitutionally endowed right to own a firearm:

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

In addition, it is not a blanket right without exception:

The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of fire-arms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those “in common use at the time” finds support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons.

So don’t go thinking you’ll be able to buy a tommy gun or a bazooka for use as part of some wacky and bizarre home defense plan. Do, however, pay close attention to the section on trigger locks and disassembly requirements, which were also ruled as unconstitutional:

The handgun ban and the trigger-lock requirement (as applied to self-defense) violate the Second Amendment. The District’s total ban on handgun possession in the home amounts to a prohibition on an entire class of “arms” that Americans overwhelmingly choose for the lawful purpose of self-defense…Similarly, the requirement that any lawful firearm in the home be disassembled or bound by a trigger lock makes it impossible for citizens to use arms for the core lawful purpose of self-defense and is hence unconstitutional.

There’s going to be a lot to think about in the next few days.

Desert Eagle .44 - originally uploaded by Barjack

We got some email this weekend that left me utterly appalled with the Redskins Management. Suffice it to say that, if this is true, the Redskins have some real work to do with regard to fan-support and fan-management. It’s bad enough that Tickets are so expensive, but to both charge a $100 name-change fee AND strike ticket-accounts while a family’s in crisis?

Wow. That’s pretty low.

My father, who recently passed, has been a season ticket holder since 1961; 12 tickets used by family and friends (one of whom in a high DC postion). Since his passing I’ve managed the account. This year’s payment was received by the Redskins 3 weeks late. I was just notified that they have REVOKED OUR TICKETS!

I spoke with Jason Friedman who claimed “letters, emails and postcards” were sent home. NOTHING WAS SENT! I plan on fighting this but I really don’t know how– the Redskins claim all rights to do anything they want.

Our account’s address is still my father’s and his name is still on the account. As his son, I can take over but the Redskins charge a non-refundable $100 per ticket transfer of name fee. That’s $1200 that I don’t have lying around.

With the economy the way it is, the ticket holders didn’t get the money to me as quickly as normal– I expected maybe a late fee or some penalty but never this…This seems like new big business running out the old, working RFK middle class fan base that Snyder profits from.

Maybe others are feeling this too but it’s not like they never received payment. It’s a $14,000 account. Three weeks late and out??

Just ludicrous.

To my surprise, DC has an extant, long lasting infoshop!

That may not ring any bells among those of you who didn’t go to college with a bunch of radical anarchists who shouted “fuck the police!” and “smash the state!” Frankly, it’s not part of my world anymore either–once I left college, I slowly drifted away from punks and DIYers who created their own zines and would wheat-paste fliers on walls around town after dark.

I’m not sure what an infoshop is technically meant to be, but the one I hung around in Berkeley, CA was a place where you could stay all day, reading books about ending speciesism or acting up against the military-industrial complex, and then have a meal of second-hand brown bread and vegan soup. And where the shelves were packed with homemade zines about folks’ adventures and thoughts. Kinda like paper blogs. No, make that just like paper blogs.

I’m not making fun of these places. It’s the greatest thing when people’s ideals push them to actually do something rather than just talk about it. It’s just such a walk down memory lane for me, though, that I have to laugh.

So DC’s infoshop is exactly like the one in Berkelely, only smaller. And the people are friendlier! And there are signs on the wall urging support for activists who are now in jail. I don’t remember that from my college years.

Technically this infoshop is called the Brian Mackenzie Infoshop, after a local activist who died while trying to make the place a reality.

Go check it out; smile and the folks there will smile back. It’s in the middle of nowhere, 1426 9th st NW (by P, I think) and it’s generally open noon-9pm Weds-Sun. Call at 202-986-0681 if you want to be sure they’re there before you come.

I kicked off work about 4:45 today to come down to Nationals Park for tonight’s Nats/Cubs game, getting to the game around 5:45. Imagine my surprise when I could get into the stadium….but not to my seat. In fact, none of the inner ring of the ballpark was accessible until 6pm, 90 minutes before the start of the game, and more importantly, 10 minutes after the Nationals had stopped taking BP.

How are young fans supposed to engage with the players and get to know and love them? I mean, I understand that the team’s in a slump, and maybe you don’t want them pressured to have to perform for an audience, but why open the park at all, then?

I don’t get it. You want us to bond with the team, you have to let us bond with the team. You have to let us inside the park to do that. Don’t just leave us stuck in the centerfield entranceway where the players are specs in the distance.

What’s better? This is Little League Support weekend. The idea being that the Nats are holding a used equipment drive for the local Little League groups. You want us to do everything we can to support youth baseball? Let us take kids to the park and watch how the pros get ready for game.

Standin’ Around — Originally uploaded by tbridge

So the Capitals are sliding behind the playoff 8-ball. Hammered last night in Philly by a final score of 6-3, where Brière has lit a fire somewhere and Biron’s thrown up a Berlin-esque wall, the hometown hockey heroes has looked more like the ice-capades on a road trip.

Seriously.

Where’s the fire that exploded from this team in the third period of Game One? Watching Sunday’s game was like watching the Caps back in October, when the team was terrible and looking to beat Columbus down the standings.

Last night was marginally better, but only just.

The Caps got behind early on Sunday and never recovered; Ovechkin was double-teamed and his support cast was nowhere to be found. That’s not how you win playoff hockey - it’s how you give the opposing goalie a shutout. Guess what happened?

I’ll give Washington credit, they did try to stage another late rally, closing the gap to 4-3 on Laich’s goal at 4:34 remaining. But Philly rallied quick, with Mike Richards zinging Huet on a penalty shot less than two minutes later. Nail? Meet hammer.

Biron could’ve taken naps in his goal - the Caps had a total of 16 shots on the evening. Compare that to the final games of the regular season, when Caps opponents were seeing flurries of 30 and 40 shots.

Where have the Caps disappeared to?

Now, not all is lost. The series is only 2-1 in the Flyers’ favor. But they face another rough game ahead in Philadelphia before coming back to the Verizon Center. Which could be the Caps’ swan song…or not. Honestly, it’s really up to the rest of the team.

You can’t hang all the pressure on Ovechkin - though ineffective since his game-winning goal in Game One, he’s hardly at fault. The Flyers defense has been tightly focused on shutting him down (even after losing Timonen), and they’ve done so with frightening ease. In times like this, it’s dependant upon the superstar’s supporting cast to step up and make a difference. We know they can - we saw ample evidence of it in the last month of the regular season. Semin, Kozlov, Federov, Backstrom - pretty much non-existent forces on the ice right now. I’ll give a pass to Mike Green - his sniper shots are still scary as heck, as we saw last night.

So don’t despair quite yet, Caps fans. If the Flyers dominate to another win on Thursday, however…

Maybe the Pope could swing by the Verizon Center on his out-and-about birthday tour and toss out a few blessings…

IMG_5190 copy, courtesy of island_explorer

I went through my huge tax planner this past week, delinquent as I always am about getting these things done on time. There’s a page toward the end with about a million different causes that I could choose to support with extra money on top of my taxes. Usually, I give during the year, not at tax time, so I just run my pen down the No column. However, if you live in the District, think about giving a buck or two to the DC Vote folks who got their name on the tax forms in DC this year:

Especially when Heroes star (and Save the Whales spokeswoman) Hayden Panettiere’s part of the pitch…