Postal Worker Meets President
• January 18, 2013

U.S. postal worker Gary Varner ran into former President Bill Clinton as he made his rounds on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Clinton, who had Secret Service agents with him, was walking along O Street and was more than happy to meet Varner.

Caps Guy Is Back, Overlooking the River
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Almost as soon as the inflatable Santa Claus left the roof of his Prospect Street house, homeowner Jack Davies inflated a huge hockey player on the same spot.

“I decided to break out the ‘Caps Guy’ to mark the start of the new hockey season and the excitement felt by Caps fans that hockey is back,” said Davies, who owns part of the team. “The shortened 48-game regular season will create a playoff-like sense of urgency from the opening game on Jan. 19 until the conclusion of the regular season at the end of April. I am hopeful about returning ‘Caps Guy’ to my roof at that time for what I hope will be a long playoff run.

Musings: Dumb Justice, Gun-friendly Phrases and Overuse of ‘Amazing!’
• January 17, 2013

Even in modern times, there are things that seem mysterious—not in a holy way, but in a way that makes you dumbfounded. We’d like to throw in a few of these mysterious happenings on the off chance that someone would solve the mystery.

The Case of the Silent Justice

Recently, for instance, news came that Justice Clarence Thomas was heard during a court proceedings which still remains obscure. Apparently the justice had not spoken from the court in seven years, or asked a question from the court. The comment he made recently was understood to be some kind of joke regarding Harvard.

Let’s look at this a minute. I know justices write opinions or lend their names to them, and I know they deliberate in private, at which point even Justice Thomas is reported to take part. But here’s my mystery—it hardly seems possible that a judge in such a high place could not ask a single question of attorneys representing plaintiffs or the government in a case in seven years or make a comment. It’s as if he’s a ghost in robes. There are some justices, we hear, that have made an art form out of questioning attorneys to the point of badgering, while others take great delight in the whole process. Is it actually legal to keep silent for seven years, and does this man get invited to cocktail parties for his volubility? Does Justice Thomas have so little curiosity or interest in cases, or does he already know everything there is to know that not a single question comes to his mind during the course of the proceedings?

Just think if all sorts of people in other professions displayed as little curiosity as Justice Thomas: why, if he had been Lou Costello, there would be no one to ask who’s on first? And Jean Valjean wouldn’t have asked, albeit in song, who am I?, both a rhetorical question and a highlight of “Les Miserables.” Sam Spade, Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie would never make us ask “who done it” or give title to a genre of literature. To be or not to be, that is the question—but perhaps not if Justice Thomas had anything to say about it. The fact that the justice said something was news—sad news, if you think about it. The fact that what he said could not be heard properly enough to be recorded is only ironic.

Good Guys with Guns

The National Rifle Association, in its now complete nuclear warfare—can nukes be guns?—over gun control once held title to the worst slogan to stand behind by way of “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my dead cold hands,” which was uttered with particular conviction by NRA spokesman, the late and great actor Charlton Heston, who said it to great effect while holding up rifle. “If you outlaw guns only outlaws will haves guns” is an example of the kind of syllogistic turn of phrase the NRA seems particularly adept at, witness the NRA’s belated response to the horrific shootings at Newton with “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” following that up with a proposal to arm teachers in the classroom and a full-court press ad campaign that has offended many people with its referencing of the President Obama’s daughters.

Amazing!

Isn’t it amazing how often “amazing” is used these days in conversation, especially on television, but also at fashion shows, red carpets, wine tastings, by news people, people writing about Lindsay Lohan or British royalty, shoppers, and bloggers? It threatens to usurp all the known words in the dictionary for something excellent, outstanding, unusual or out of the ordinary, if not extraordinary. I have to say it: that’s amazing.

DDOT Parking Meeting Set for Jan. 16
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Make your views and ideas heard at a Jan. 16 community meeting on public parking, set up by the D.C Department of Transportation and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E (Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale). Businesses, residents and university representatives have been invited by DDOT as part of its on-going “think tanks” and its recent parking summit across the District which solicit community comments.

The issues surrounding parking include the needs of residents as well as those involving businesses, schools and churches. How to assess parking permits will be discussed — along with places where parking is difficult.

“The purpose of the think tanks was to gauge the state of parking and solicit input on the future of curbside parking management in the District, states DDOT on its website. “DDOT will share what it heard from the public and how this input may potentially shape the outcome and future of comprehensive curbside parking management for the District.”

“This is a meeting for DDOT to listen to the community, not a decision meeting,” according to the Citizens Association of Georgetown. “DDOT will give an overview of parking issues in the city and identify various tools and techniques that have been used, and then there will be break-out groups to focus on issues of specific interest, then a summation of the discussions.”

The Jan. 16 parking meeting is at Hardy Middle School, 6:30 p.m.; 1819 35th Street (entrances at T and 35th Streets; 34th Street near Wisconsin Avenue).

Georgetowner’s Annual Photo Competition Photo Exhibit and Opening Reception Canceled
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Due to the upcoming inauguration and inaugural events, this year’s Photo Exhibit and Opening Reception that was to be held at Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts on Thomas Jefferson Street will be rescheduled at a later date.

Georgetown Biz Group Honors Achievers, Affirms New Officers
• January 16, 2013

The Georgetown Business Association held its Annual Meeting and Holiday Soiree at Dumbarton House Dec. 12, affirming its 2013 officers and board and honoring individuals and businesses. The 2013 GBA officers are Riyad Said, president (Wells Fargo); Janine Schoonover, vice president ( JSW Group); Karen Ohri, treasurer (Georgetown Floorcovers); Molly Quigley, secretary (Clyde’s Restaurant Group).

Proud to be thanking the crowd was one of the communitarians of the year, Terry Bell of Salon Ilo, whose latest charitable effort was a Dec. 5 Kitty Kelley booksigning, a fundraiser for the D.C. Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Georgetown Public Library. Business person of the year Zubair Popal, whose Malmaison at 34th and K Streets will open in January, recalled his journey from Afghanistan to the D.C. area and noted that his children went to Georgetown University and George Washington University. Popal assured that his new restaurant would exude “traditional Afghan hospitality.” Said called Linda Greenan’s lifetime achievement award a “half-life award,” as he expected she had a lot more to do beyond her retirement from Georgetown University and her last GBA board meeting.

Last Edition of This Third Edition
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The Third Edition, part of Capital Restaurant Concepts which includes J. Paul’s, Paolo’s, Neyla’s and Old Glory, will celebrate the end of an era at a Jan. 24 bang-out party. The legendary bar and restaurant near the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street will close only to re-open under a new management arrangement with Richard Sandoval Restaurants, which owns a string of eateries, including Masa 14 in D.C.

Opened 1969, “the Third” has always been a player on the college-bar scene. It was shown in the 1980s classic, “Saint Elmo’s Fire.” Since 1982, Greg Talcott has owned the bar and restaurant and will continue as an owner. This year, the Third will undergo “a major renovation,” he said.

“It’s been a great run, and it has a great history,” Talcott said of Third Edition. “But it’s time to put a new face on it.” Sandoval has come on as partner to help make the 2013 upgrade. “We signed a 20-year lease four years ago,” Talcott said. “I hope we continue as a Georgetown institution.”

The Jan. 24 party will see many who met their future spouses at the place. Check the Facebook page, “The Last Edition of Third Edition,” for details.

Georgetown Stops for Karzai, Who Sees Afghanistan ?Moving Forward? January 16, 2013
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Georgetown University Jan. 11 to give a speech, entitled ?Afghanistan Beyond 2014: A Perspective on Afghan-U.S. Relations,? at Gaston Hall.

Before the speech, Karzai?s motorcade got presidential treatment and caused temporary roadblocks on the west side of Georgetown, leaving motorists stopped on 34th and 35th street and other streets that intersected with M Street. One woman who lives on the 3600 block of Prospect Street, part of the motorcade route, was ordered by police not to drive to her nearby home, which has a garage, but in the opposite direction into the campus. A block away, she left her car with its lights flashing to gather items from her home and then travel with her two children back to her car to pick a third child. She and most affected motorists were halted for at least 25 minutes, as the university awaited the Afghan president.

Karzai met President Barack Obama earlier that Friday at the White House to discuss the withdrawal of most U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the months and year ahead and the transition of Afghan troops as U.S. troops take on a supporting and training role by the end of 2014.

Karzai reminded all that his country and the U.S. had come together after the September 11 attacks in 2001 ?for a great cause?: to free the world of terrorists, liberate Afghanistan and take down the Taliban.

Georgetown Stops for Karzai, Who Sees Afghanistan ‘Moving Forward’
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Georgetown University Jan. 11 to give a speech, entitled “Afghanistan Beyond 2014: A Perspective on Afghan-U.S. Relations,” at Gaston Hall.

Before the speech, Karzai’s motorcade got presidential treatment and caused temporary roadblocks on the west side of Georgetown, leaving motorists stopped on 34th and 35th street and other streets that intersected with M Street. One woman who lives on the 3600 block of Prospect Street, part of the motorcade route, was ordered by police not to drive to her nearby home, which has a garage, but in the opposite direction into the campus. A block away, she left her car with its lights flashing to gather items from her home and then travel with her two children back to her car to pick a third child. She and most affected motorists were halted for at least 25 minutes, as the university awaited the Afghan president.

Karzai met President Barack Obama earlier that Friday at the White House to discuss the withdrawal of most U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the months and year ahead and the transition of Afghan troops as U.S. troops take on a supporting and training role by the end of 2014.

It was a time for reflection, and Karzai appeared relaxed during his third visit Georgetown. He recalled his previous visit for an honorary degree from the university, “when I was popular,” he said. Karzai smiled and added that he expected his son “will be studying here.”

Setting the tone, John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, introduced Karzai and said that 2014 would be a new era for the U.S. and Afghanistan, while explaining that the speech was an example of “Catholic, Jesuit discourse.”

Karzai reminded all that his country and the U.S. had come together after the September 11 attacks in 2001 “for a great cause”: to free the world of terrorists, liberate Afghanistan and take down the Taliban. Within one-and-half months, Karzai’s country was free, he said, “with the help of the United States and allies.”

There have been “serious bumps,” Karzai said, as he listed the improvements of everyday life in Afghanistan, including the education of girls and increased use of mobile phones, as one woman’s phone buzzed within her purse in the back of the hall.

“The war on terror has been costly,” Karzai said, to the U.S., allies and Afghanistan. “Tens of thousands of civilians have been lost,” he said. “There is blame on both sides. I am aware of your complaints in the media . . . and of me.”

“The relationship continued out of a reality that Afghanistan would always be better off in close contact and partnership with the United States,” he said. “Is the future certainly good for us? Does it have dangers on its way? Are we certain to move forward? Will this partnership work? Yes.”

And Karzai’s prediction for Afghanistan’s future? There would be improvements but still violence, but the sweep of progress will not stop. He used the same phrase Obama had used for the U.S.-Afghan relationship: “moving forward.” Gain would be consolidated with most of the “suffering behind us.” The Afghan president closed his talk with the words of poet Robert Frost: “promises to keep . . . and miles to go.”

After the speech, Karzai did not take questions directly from the audience. Questions from student groups were asked by professor Phyllis Magrab, vice chair of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, which is headquartered at the university. One question was from the Lecture Fund which cited a New York Times article about Taliban members who turned in their weapons and had not yet gotten their promised employment. Karzai seemed surprised and said he would check out the Times story.

Student Thomas Gibbons-Neff, president of the student veterans group, who was twice deployed to Afghanistan, asked what Karzai would “say to an American family that has lost a son or daughter in Afghanistan and what would you say they died for.”

“The United States came to Afghanistan for the security of the United States and by extension the rest of the world and also for Afghans,” Karzai answered. “Those unfortunate incidents of lives lost in Afghanistan were for the safety and security of the United States for the American people and also by extension for the rest of us in the international community.”

ANC Opposes Bowling Alley If Agreement Not Made
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Agreeing with residents who live in the Georgetown Park condominiums, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E voted at its Jan. 2 monthly meeting to oppose the construction of a bowling alley in the former Shops at Georgetown Park if an enforceable agreement is not made.

The request by new tenant, Pinstripes, a Illinois-based Italian bistro with bowling and bocce as well as banquet space, caught flak from condo residents, who fear more noise from the proposed bowling alley.

It came down to ANC chair Ron Lewis to offer a resolution that would oppose the bowling alley before the Board of Zoning Adjustment at its Jan. 15 meeting — if the condominium association and Pinstripes cannot strike an agreement on vibration and noise control with an “enforceable mechanism for securing that assurance.” The ANC also opposed an outdoor patio, also proposed by Pinstripes.