This is the presentation Larry Lessig gave at the Brennan Center’s Campaign Finance Reform forum last week.  It is well worth your time.
Also? The next time you’re tempted to use PowerPoint in a presentation, think about this.
Category: DC Page 7 of 26
Also? The next time you’re tempted to use PowerPoint in a presentation, think about this.
Just rec’d this:
Join the National Park Service and Trips for Kids [this Saturday] as they start off their annual family friendly bike tours on the Mall. The rides start at 2:30 at the Jefferson (Trips for Kids starts at 2:00 from Gravelly Point to get a little extra riding in) and last about 2 hours. The rides are family friendly, fun and incredibly informative. Trailer and tow-a-bikes welcome. I hope to see folks out there. More info below.
http://www.nps.gov/mall/planyourvisit/national-bike-frequently-asked-questions.htm
I’ve never done this ride myself, but Trips for Kids is a solid organization run by great people, so I expect this will be pretty well organized.
So, on the way home from catching The Watchmen (verdict: read the book), we stopped by a previously-sworn-off bar because beer and chips seemed like the sensible thing to do at 10p. It’s a sports bar, with lots of hockey (apparently in playoffs?) on the screens. After some time, it became clear that the majority of the screens (and all of the sound) were tuned to the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia game. A 3-0 game, which – as I understand it – is something of a blowout in hockey. And on another, smaller, screen – the DC team (Capitals) v. someone else I can’t recall, 3-3. DC teams – can’t even get love in their own city. The icing? We were five floors below the Capitals actual home/practice rink.
You really have to wonder what sort of world someone lives in that makes this make sense:
Last Tuesday night, [David Schultz, a reporter with Public Radio station WAMU] was covering a public event at the V.A. Hospital in Washington, D.C. While interviewing one of the veterans about the poor treatment he was receiving at the hands of the V.A., Ms. [Gloria] Hairston demanded that Schultz stop recording the interview and hand over his recording equipment.
“She said I wouldn’t be allowed to leave,” Schultz tells WTOP.
At first he refused. But after being surrounded by armed police officers who stood between him and the exit, he looked for a compromise.
“I became worried that I was going to get arrested,” Schultz says.
Schultz convinced Hairston that all she really needed to confiscate was the memory card to his recorder, rather than all of his equipment. While this was going on, many of the veterans from the meeting had come out to watch the confrontation.
One of those veterans, an amputee in a wheelchair, approached Schultz and asked him for his phone number.
“I started to give it to him and then the woman {Hairston} became irate, she said you can’t give him your phone number. You have to give me all of your equipment or I’m going to get ugly. She used the phrase ‘get ugly,'” Schultz says,
Like any good reporter, Schultz stood his ground and called his boss for direction. Longtime newsman Jim Asendio is the news director for WAMU.
“I told him to give them the flash card and get out of there,” Asendio says. “I didn’t want this to get out of hand.”
Schultz reluctantly handed over the memory card from his recorder.
This happened Tuesday. So, by Friday, we’ve got a quick apology for a gross mistake, right?
Unfortunately, WAMU has been unsuccessful in retrieving the memory card which remains in the hands of the federal government.
“Our lawyers are working on that,” Asendio says.
On Thursday afternoon, Asendio hand-delivered a letter from WAMU’s general manager to the V.A Hospital demanding the return of the memory card. When he tried to deliver a copy of the letter to V.A. headquarters, he was turned away.
[ . . . ]
Hairston refused to answer any questions about the incident when reached by phone Thursday afternoon.
“I’m going to take your query and move it up the ladder,” she said. “I’m going to send it over to the central office.”
The central office is the V.A. headquarters. Calls and e-mails to Phil Budahn, director of media relations for the Department of Veterans Affairs, also went unreturned.
“I’m guessing nobody’s called you back,” was Budahn’s only comment when reached late Thursday.
Gloria Hairston needs to be fired. And the Veterans Administration needs to take a hard look at both its public relations operation, as well as whoever it’s letting walk around armed inside its facilities. It’s pretty obvious that some of them lack the judgment you’d want from someone with a gun.
Sarah Cox, a public affairs specialist at the hospital, was reluctant to answer any basic questions about Hairston including the correct spelling of her name or the length of her employment.
The DC City Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states that have adopted equality laws. It’s a solid step towards DC’s bringing same-sex marriage within its own laws. There will, no doubt, be the challenge of overcoming Congress (which can overturn any DC law, no matter how petty). It’ll be an interesting illustration of 1) the Democratic Party’s commitment to equality and 2) the hollowness of the Republican Party’s supposed commitment to states’ rights.
Son of a )(*#$@#@. This bike was stolen from the Arlington Central Library on the evening of March 31st. I’d really like it back, and I will pay $200 (no questions asked) for information that results in its recovery.
Bike Details:
• ’00 GT Rebound – blue/white
• Continental Town & Country slick tires (different from those pictured)
• Neon green water bottle cage (extra style points, no?)
• Arlington County Police Department bicycle registration sticker
Please email me at bike @ blacknell.net with any information. Thank you.
(And yes, here’s the part that really sucks – no, it wasn’t locked up. M. had just arrived on it, came into the WABA annual meeting to get the keys from me (to use the lock securing my other bike) and in about the time that that took? Gone.  So, uh, make my lesson yours. Or something like that.)
Update: I seriously appreciate the support that’s come my way for this. This bike has been well loved not just by us, but also many of my friends – as a borrowed daily commuter, adventure race finisher, and all around solid piece of fun and transportation. Here’s hope that it can continue to serve as that, even if it doesn’t come back.
It’s my understanding that the MPD has issued the final report on the circumstances surrounding the death of cyclist Alice Swanson, and that no charges will be made. I will try to get a copy of that report, and post it here, before coming to my own conclusions.
Update: the “Final Overview Memo” was actually issued on December 18, 2008. Reading it made me angry and sad. Out of deference to a legitimate request, I’m going to leave it at that, for now.
Washcycle (as usual) has the info you need. This time it’s about the recently issued IRS guidance on the benefits allowed under the Bicycle Commuter Choice Act. Check it out and send it along to your HR people. I can’t help but think that it was a poorly drafted bit of legislation, though. Because really, could this have been intentional?
The bicycle commuter act passed last year excluded bike commuter benefits from an employee’s taxable pay, up to $20 a month. However, if you receive the $20 bicycle commuter benefit, you can not receive any other transportation benefit such as commuter highway vehicle, transit pass, or qualified parking benefits in that same month. This is different than with transit and parking. If you want to, you can take the $230 transit benefit AND $230 in parking. But for cyclists, you can either have $20 for biking or up to $430 for using transit and driving (sigh).
The City Paper had an interesting look at the cyclists who don’t wear helmets in DC, and their reasons:
Unscientific observations of D.C.’s riding patterns suggest that about half of riders wear helmets. Riders commuting downtown during rush hour, wearing loafers and nice pants, usually wear helmets. Cyclists wearing gear like clip-on bike shoes or Lycra jerseys or padded shorts generally do so as well. In low-income areas, among messengers, and during noncommuting hours, helmet use goes down.
In the last 10 years, there have been a reported 232 bicyclist deaths in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Correctly worn, bike helmets are about 70 percent effective in preventing damage on impact.
Now, I think you’re an idiot if you don’t wear a helmet, but I’m not a purist. I not infrequently make the three block trip to the grocery store without a lid, which I have no real defense for beyond just not feeling like bothering with carrying it through the store. It’s a pretty lame habit, and one that I’m working on changing. I would oppose any helmet law for adults (but support one for children). That said, the reasons some of the folks give for not wearing helmets? Make me wonder how they get through the day:
Kelly Johnson, 43, says he can’t wear a helmet because he wears headphones when he rides. Which means that not only does Johnson leave himself vulnerable in the case of an accident, but he’s also boosting the chance that such an accident will occur. He also admits that he thinks helmets look “corny.â€
Bob Twillger, 28, who has been known to hang out at Capitol Hill Bikes, blames good helmet technology for his failure to wear one. “The lighter the helmet,†he reasons, “the more you put it down, and the more you damage it. It gets kicked around and beat up.†This from a man who takes credit for totaling a Toyota Camry with his forehead. “Every time I get hit, I get wilder,†he says. “More bulletproof.â€
Yeah, no relationship between hitting your head and brain damage at all.