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Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: DC Page 9 of 26

This Land Was Made For You and Me – We Sang the *Whole* Song

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On January 18, 2009

In DC, Politics, Society

Just back from the We Are One concert on the Mall.  More about that soon, but I wanted to get this up.  There were many wonderful moments, but the one that would have made all of the effort worth it – on its own – was Pete Seeger leading the entire Mall’s worth of people in singing This Land is Your Land.  And not just the first verses, but the whole thing.  This is what it looked like:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-PCpRWqXv8[/youtube]

As sung today:

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking they tried to stop me
And on the sign it said “Private Property.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

Celebrating Freedom! Through Security!

By

On January 16, 2009

In DC, Society

Oy:

[The Inauguration] will be overseen by the U.S. Secret Service and will include 7,500 active-duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers, security officials said.

I realize that security is a reasonable concern, but those numbers still give me pause.  Any time you get that many cops together, something’s bound to go off.  What?  That seems unfair?  DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier seems to take that view of the public:

Lanier said city officials realized they would need a different plan from previous inaugurals after the spontaneous response to Obama’s victory on Election Night.

Thousands took to the city’s streets, setting off sparklers and shouting from cars. Although “they were hugging police officers,” the size of the crowds signaled potential problems, she said.

That’s right – you just can’t let the people get together and celebrate without making sure that you’ve got riot shields, helmets, and truncheons on hand.

Class/Air Warfare

By

On January 14, 2009

In DC, Virginia

If your flight through IAD is delayed this weekend, here’s where to direct your ire:

One of the four runways at Washington’s Dulles International Airport will be closed starting Friday to park private planes flown to D.C. for President-elect Obama’s inauguration.

Opened in November, the 9,400-foot runway will be closed from Friday, Jan. 16 through Thursday, Jan. 22 to accommodate what the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority expects to be around 500 private planes flown in for the occasion.

This post should not be construed as evidence that I would do anything different, if I had my own plane . . .

Small Victories for Truth

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On January 13, 2009

In DC, Society

Looks like Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D-VT) letter paid off:

The [Smithsonian’s new portrait of George W. Bush’s] caption, describing the Bush era, originally said that the 9/11 attacks “led to” the war in Iraq. After Sanders pointed out the obvious flaw in that causal correlation — Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 — Sullivan replied: “Our intention was to remind viewers of the portrait that the listed events were defining moments in the Bush presidency, within the limited space of an object label. I appreciate your concern, however, about the words ‘led to.’ We will revise the label and delete the words ‘led to.'”

That this is noteworthy says much about the state of the country.  But it’s an encouraging start.

Metro, You’re Making It Really Hard

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On January 12, 2009

In DC, Policy, Politics, Virginia

I’m a big defender of the DC Metro system.   Sometimes I think it’s because I came from a city with a pathetic public transport system (hi, Atlanta!), and other times I think it’s because I can’t stand the sound of one more twit from New York talking about how great the system is back home.  But mostly I defend it because it’s a system that does a pretty good job – given its resources – of serving as circulation system for DC and its surrounding communities.  They’ve got a really difficult funding situation, though – they essentially have to go begging four masters on a regular basis (the Fed, DC, MD, and VA gov’ts) and suffer all the risks and political vagaries that go with that.  So, when faced with the rare chance to put their hands on some serious capital project spending power?  They flub it:

Unfortunately, when WMATA sat down to talk about what kind of projects they had that fit the criteria for economic stimulus, they only came up with $529 million worth of stuff. That’s better than being dishonest and trying to get their hands on billions of dollars worth of money to go waste.

But it also reflects a failure of vision, planning, and leadership. A well-run agency ought not become so cowed by the narrow horizons of conventional political wisdom that it’s left with this little to ask for when the situation changes.

Oh, I could think of something . . .

“The Secret Service, they’re insane.”

By

On January 9, 2009

In DC, Policy, Politics, Virginia

Yup, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va) is quote as having said that today, about the Fortress DC Lockdown the Secret Service seems to be planning.   Closing all of the bridges from Virginia to DC is bad enough, but making pedestrians prove that they have a right to be in their own neighborhoods?  Yeah, I think we might be approaching insane.

Biking to the Inauguration

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On January 8, 2009

In Cycling, DC, Politics

Washcycle carries the WABA press release:

The bike valets will be located on the south side of the Jefferson Memorial and on 16th Street NW between I Street and K Streets NW.  Both will be open from 7am to 5pm.  In case of extreme weather, the valets will be closed, but the unattended bike parking racks will still be available for use.

“Bike valets are very similar to car valets,” said Henry Mesias, project manager at WABA. “You simply ride up to the valet, a volunteer will attach one half of a claim ticket to your bike and hand you the other half.  The volunteer will then park the bike in a safe enclosure while you head off to enjoy the inauguration.  When you want to leave, you show us your half of the claim check and we get you your bike and you ride off.  It’s quite simple.”  Mr. Mesias says that the association is prepared to park well over 1000 bikes.

More details at Washcycle.

Get Your Inaugural Race On

By

On January 6, 2009

In Cycling, DC

My friend Demoncats is at it again:

The Inaugural Alleycat- January 20th, 2009- Free Alleycat and Free Beer‏
In two weeks time, Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States and the DemonCats have a small free alleycat to celebrate!

Fee: $0.00 Prizes: None- Just bragging rights, free beer and the chance to say you were in D.C. on the day it happened!!!

Date/Time: January 20th, 2009 @ 2:00pm Where: Washington DC at the Spanish Steps.

What you need to bring: A bike and yourself! Maps will be provided at the start.

After-party: Keg and Music.

If anyone in DC can host the after-party, let me know!

Racing for Victory and free beer!!!

Up for it? Watch this space.

New Visitor Policy at the U.S. Capitol?

By

On January 6, 2009

In DC, Politics

We learned many things from Roland Burris’ visit to the U.S. Capitol today.  While I’m not sure if any of them are particularly useful, this part stood out:

Capitol police officers tried to clear a path for Mr. Burris. “You can’t keep a regular citizen from walking into the Capitol,” one officer shouted.

News to me.  Have you tried walking up those steps, lately?  Any one want to try out this new policy on their lunch break tomorrow and report back?*

*No guarantee of bail express or implied.

DC Bike Infrastructure in 2009

By

On January 2, 2009

In Cycling, DC, Virginia

Washcycle has a nice little summary of the projects DC area cyclists can expect to see completed or get underway in 2009.  It will be nice to (finally) have the Wilson Bridge open to cyclists, and the Shirlington Underpass will be of great practical use.

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