The Star-Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key at Home in Georgetown
• September 9, 2011

As the 10th anniversary of September 11 is upon us, we remember another anniversary of a foreign power attacking the U.S. It was the War of 1812. Sept. 14 is Star-Spangled Banner Day.

After the burning of public buildings in the new capital, Washington, D.C., in August 1814, the Royal Navy and British army prepared to attack the bigger city of Baltimore in the days before Sept. 14. Meanwhile, as the British roamed around Chesapeake Bay and Maryland, they had captured a town leader, Dr. William Beanes, from Upper Marlboro, prompting a presidential group to seek his release. President James Madison had asked Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key to meet the British and negotiate. While with British officers on their ship near Fort McHenry, which guarded Baltimore harbor, Key could not leave and witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry. After the British push on land to Baltimore City was stymied, the navy stayed out of range of the fort and hit it repeatedly but failed to pass its defense.

Ending an evening of terrible explosions, lights and sounds, the British gave up the fight and withdrew in the morning. As “the dawn’s early light” revealed that Fort McHenry had stood its ground, Key was elated to see “that our flag was still there.” A large American flag – the Star-Spangled Banner – waved atop the fort. It was a moment of profound relief for the Americans to know that their former rulers would not split the young nation in two with the demise of Baltimore. This war revealed one of the first times that Americans had acted as Americans – a fresh national identity – and not as Marylanders, Virginians or New Yorkers. Key wrote these sentiments into his poem, “The Defense of Fort McHenry,” quickly renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It become an instant hit, an army musical standard and finally the national anthem.

Key lived with his large family in Georgetown, D.C., from 1804 to around 1833 with his wife Polly and their six sons and five daughters. Their land was across from what is now the Car Barn (3500 block of M Street) and their backyard went all the way to the Potomac River (the C&O Canal did not yet exist). The accomplished lawyer, truly a gentleman, scholar and fine orator, was involved in church and community in the small town of 5,000 Georgetowners. He was the district attorney for Washington under the Jackson and Van Buren administrations.

Years later, business leaders and the Georgetowner newspaper founded “Star-Spangled Banner Days” to celebrate the flag, the anthem and its author, a hometown hero. On Sept. 14, 1993, the Francis Scott Key Foundation paid for, completed and dedicated the park on M Street – one block from his famous home, demolished in 1947 – between 34th street and Key Bridge. The Francis Scott Key Foundation is still active providing additional maintenance of the park, such as a fresh flag periodically. It plans more events for the park, now part of the National Park Service, and history lessons for Mr. Key’s neighborhood.

Francis Scott Key Park and the Star-Spangled Banner Monument is a D.C. and national salute to the flag, the anthem and the man with its percola, bust of Key and a flag pole which flies a Star-Spangled Banner. That original flag, which inspired Key’s song, is on display about 25 city blocks away at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Passers-by can rest and meet at this Georgetown oasis and recall a time when a young city and country had confronted its own years of war and lived through it to thrive and create a great nation.

Business Ins & Outs
• September 7, 2011

Town Hall Moving to Replace Blue Ridge
Town Hall, formerly of 2340 Wisconsin Ave., will move in to the Blue Ridge space at 2218 Wisconsin Ave. in the coming weeks, according to the Glover Park Gazette. The owners of Town Hall will acquire the building, which includes a large patio space and bar, and the property’s liquor license. According to the Gazette, the owners of Blue Ridge, Eli Hengst and Jared Rager, were unable to complete their plans for opening a coffeehouse and diner in the space because of ongoing complications with Mendocino Bar & Grill. Hengst and Rager subleased the M Street property to the Grill, which was forced to close last spring due to back taxes.

‘Uncommon Furnishings’ Comes to Town
Local and international designer, artist and furniture maker, Jan Marfyak has set up shop, Uncommon Furnishings, at 35th and N Streets. “It’s got a different buzz,” says Marfyak approvingly of today’s Georgetown. He has been around D.C. for years as well as the New York and L.A. arts scene and has worked with Krupsaw’s, Antony Childs, Miller & Armey and Muleh.

Displaying decorative objects for homes – polished petrified wood, calcium slabs and mill stones, to name a few intriguing pieces – Marfyak pulls from his warehouse in Montgomery County and his world travels. His designs involve unusual textures, forms and colors with residential and commercial applications. If you are looking for unique framings or yet-to-be-authenticated petrified crocodiles from China – or not – stop by and say hello to Marfyak. Each of his art pieces tells a story, and he can tell quite a few of his own. He is well worth the trip. Uncommon Furnishings is at 1301 35th St., NW, 202.422.6695.

Liquor Store Hours Extended to Midnight
Neighborhood liquor stores can now stay open until midnight instead of 10 p.m. D.C.’s new law which raises alcohol taxes – from nine to 10 percent – also includes extending hours for retail liquor sales to offset losses for the businesses involved. Already, liquor stores such as Wagner’s and Dixie Liquor, are open until midnight Thursday through Saturday.

Jack Evans Report
•

I want to alert my constituents about the alarming decline in sworn officers in the District’s Metropolitan Police Department. As of earlier this week, the force was down to 3,818 officers, very near the 3,800 number that Chief Cathy Lanier identified as the threshold for real trouble. With an attrition rate of around 15 officers per month, we could be in the neighborhood of 3,750 sworn officers by the end of the year. How did this happen?

I introduced a bill in April that would require the District to maintain a minimum staffing level of 4,000 sworn officers at all times. This was not meant to be a statement that 4,000 is some magic number that will eliminate all our public safety concerns. Rather, it would force the Mayor and the Council to fully fund 4,000 officers and not play around with the money. As we went through the 2012 budget process, I advocated for budgeting a dollar amount for MPD that would allow the Department to increase officers at a rate to get us above 4,000 by the end of 2013, which would enable Chief Lanier and MPD to continue to fight crime and meet the community’s expectations for service.

While the Mayor had asked for 120 new officers in his 2012 budget request, the equivalent of ten per month, these do not even account for the total number of officers who leave every month. Further, there is a substantial lag time of six to seven months between when a new recruit is hired and when he or she is on the street. To make matters worse, 1,100 officers will be eligible for retirement in the next four years. Many of these officers will leave as a result of proposals to cut police officer pensions. This will effectively double the current rate of attrition, but the budget does not contemplate this dramatic shift. Numbers are too low already, and for the foreseeable future we will only be hiring one new officer for every two who leave. I don’t use this word lightly, but I think it is fair to call this situation a crisis.

At one time, MPD had over 5,000 officers. When I first joined the City Council in 1991, we had 4,500 officers. I have seen a decline in officers year after year and have attempted to slow or stop this situation from continuing. There were supposed to be 30 officers in the police academy beginning in June. Currently, there are none.

While the Council added $10.8 million to the 2012 MPD budget, ostensibly to fund new officers, these numbers fail to take into account this acceleration of attrition and historic unrealistic budgeting by the Mayor and the Council. $10.8 million in new funding doesn’t go very far if there is a $7.9 million “spending pressure” in 2012, as there was in 2011. Spending priorities must be established and in my opinion, hiring more policemen and women should be the top priority.

If decisive action is not taken when the Council returns from recess, our worst projections will become reality. My goal is to raise awareness of the dire situation facing the residents of the District while we can still correct it. My hope is to motivate the Mayor and the Council to develop a plan to fund the Department adequately. With an appropriate budget in place, MPD can reverse the trend of dwindling numbers and reach a staffing level of over 4,000 sworn officers by the end of next year. 

Weekend Roundup September 1, 2011
• September 6, 2011

Free For All: Julius Caesar

September 2, 2011

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s annual free play revisits the Bard’s tragedy, which it staged during the 2007-2008 season.Tickets for each performance of Julius Caesar will be made available to the public on the day of the show by visiting Sidney Harman Hall as well as through an online lottery system. for more information visit Shakespeare Theatre Company’s website.

Shakespeare Theatre Company – Harman Hall

610 F St. NW

Washington, DC

Uptown Deli Announces First Annual Matzo Ball Eating Contest

September 5, 2011 at 03:00 PM | $50 Tel: (301) 961-5787

The First Annual Uptown Deli Matzo Ball Eating Contest to be held on Labor Day, September 5th. While matzo ball eating contests are not new, Howard Wasserman (Bethesda’s source for all things delicatessen) says that his contest will be the first in the DC area and will feature his own special matzo ball recipe that has been in his family for generations. Wasserman is a bit secretive about his recipe but he says, “There’s no question that my matzo ball is by far the best around. I make my version light and fluffy, they’re called “floaters”…and they’re not heavy like so many of them. Our contestants will have no problems eating my matzo balls.” Contestants will have 8 minutes to see who can eat the most matzo balls. Proceeds will benefit The Children’s Inn at NIH.

Address

Uptown Deli

7905 Norfolk Avenue

Bethesda, MD 20814

Author Susan McCorkindale at Barnes & Noble

Wednesday September 07, 2011 7:00 PM

Meet Susan McCorkindale and get your signed copy of her new book, 500 Acres and No Place to Hide. Critics are calling it “Self-deprecating and funny.” (Publisher’s Weekly), “Serious girl-crush material; McCorkindale’s humor and wit are brilliantly funny.” (Blog Critics), and “500 Acres will just as easily make readers laugh as wipe tears from their eyes.” (Kirkus) It’s the perfect read for a fall weekend get-away!

Address

3040 M Street NW,

Washington, DC 20007

202-965-9880

Fashion’s Night Out is Coming Back to Georgetown

September 8, 2011

GET READY! FNO Georgetown DC is coming back – bigger and better than ever! On September 8, 2011, Fashion’s Night Out Transforms Georgetown into a Fashion Playground with Over 90 Epic Style Celebrations! check out the FNO Georgetown DC 2010 video with highlights from last year’s exciting evening! for more information Visit Fashion Night Out](http://www.fashionsnightoutgeorgetowndc.com/)

Address

All of Georgetown DC

Building The Dream
•

In 2007, supporters of the Washington, DC Martin Luther King Kr. National Memorial rang the New York Stock Exchange Opening Bell to mark the beginning of construction. After raising over $114 million and rallying the support of celebrities, large-scale corporations, and enthusiastic citizens, the Memorial Foundation has recently announced that the memorial is complete.

Built in honor of civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the memorial is a symbol of Dr. King’s lifelong pursuit of lasting peace and his dedication to social reform through non-violent means. As visitors enter the memorial, they walk through a boulder, representative of Dr. King’s struggle. Visitors read Dr. King’s own words, “out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope,” as they pass the boulder and arrive in an open space filled with trees and flowers, symbolic of Dr. King’s dream and ultimate success. There stands a 30-foot sculpture of the man himself.

The memorial, which includes a 450-foot Inscription Wall filled with 14 memorable quotes by Dr. King, captures the four fundamental principles of Dr. King’s message—justice, democracy, hope and love. The water from the Tidal Basin, adjacent to the memorial, represents justice, while the blooming cherry blossoms are a symbol of eternal hope. The memorial commemorates Dr. King’s passion for equality and global peace, which inspired thousands of people in the mid 1900s and continues to do so today. The memorial stands as a constant reminder to D.C. residents and visitors alike of Dr King’s strong-willed spirit, relentless courage, optimistic worldview, and lasting contributions to our society.

The Memorial Foundation recently announced that opening day will be August 28th, 2011, the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. An official dedication ceremony will begin at 11 a.m., with a pre-dedication concert starting at 10 a.m. and a post-dedication concert at 2 p.m. Tickets for the event were distributed through an online lottery months ago, but standing areas are open to the public and do not require a ticket.

With opening day only a few weeks away, supporters from all over the area are excited to take part in the historic inauguration of the District’s first memorial celebrating Dr. King, a true American hero.

UkeFest at Strathmore
•

Down at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, they’re saying it’s time to put up your ukes.

That would be the center’s annual UkeFest, a celebration of the ukele, ukele-playing and even an attempt to try to beat the Guinness Book of World Records’ world record for Largest Ukulele Ensemble ever assembled.

The current record was set in London in 2009 when 851 uke players performed at the London Uke Festival. That may give you an idea how many ukers will be at the Strathmore grounds, where its annual series of free outdoor concerts is drawing to a close on August 24 at 7 p.m.

Local two-time Grammy winners Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer will emcee UkeFest 2011, which will also feature the Riders, amateur musicians from the Riderwood Retirement Community, the Piney Branch Kids Ukulele Ensemble, and the Washington Ukulele Orchestra, as well as the pop folk duo The Sweaters. There’s also an appearance by Baltimore uke singer Victoria Vox.

The Kids Farm is Here to Stay
•

The Kid’s Farm, a recreation of a touch-and-see interactive farm that remains one of the most popular family attractions at the National Zoo, is off the endangered list.

The Zoo had announced earlier that there were plans to close the Kids’ Farm due to budget cuts but
after an outburst of support for Kid’s Farm by local FONZ members and families all over the city, the Zoo found a sponsor that saved the date.

A major $1.4 million gift from State Farm Insurance will keep the family friendly attraction with its barn, grazing area, sheep, goats, chickens, cows and a mule open for visitors.

SlutWalk Marched Through D.C.
•

SlutWalk marched through D.C. on Saturday as one of many recent marches organized by women to raise awareness and reduce the blame put by society on victims of sexual abuse.

Women and men gathered at Lafayette Square and processed down 15th Street to the Washington Monument. Some marchers woreonly in a bra, several painted “Slut” across their chests, others carried signs declaring “My Dress is Not a Yes” and “Even Sluts Have a Right to Say ‘No’.” All conveyed the same message: Consent is not granted by the way a woman dresses or acts, and victims are never responsible for sexual violence committed against them.

SlutWalk D.C. defines its principle goal as onethat “specifically aims to challenge ‘rape culture’ which excuses sexual violence through messaging such as ‘Don’t Get Raped’ – instead the message should be ‘Don’t Rape!’”

SlutWalk D.C. follows a series of marches that began with a small movement in Toronto in April, after a Toronto police officer who suggested that women could better protect themselves by not dressing “like a slut.”

Since Toronto, SlutWalk has not only taken Chicago, Austin, Philadelphia and Seattle by storm, but also gone international with marches in Brisbane, Australia and London, England.

For more information about SlutWalk, its principles and its history, visit slutwalkdc.org
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Thoughts For Freshmen
•

Your bags are packed, you’re ready to go . . . and whether you’re leaving on a jet plane or loading up the car, whether you’re excited, nervous or both, hopefully you know you’re about to embark upon the most exciting four years of your life yet. Although I’m by no means an expert, here are five things to keep in mind your first year:

5. Travel: You have all your options open your first year, so use the time to consider your academic interests and think about where that can take you in the next four years. Explore opportunities for research, internships, study abroad and volunteer work that will provide you with hands-on experience with your passions in the next four years.

4.Embrace Challenges: Many students find themselves facing a new level of difficulty in their classes and the workload in college. The best thing to keep in mind is that everyone else is in the same boat, and with time you’ll learn to time-manage and find that your professors and peers are always more than happy to help and advise you.

3. Get Outside: The best way to avoid the “freshman fifteen” is to take a holistic approach to healthy habits – stay active, eat well and find fun ways to de-stress.

2. Try New Things: College is a great opportunity to explore new opportunities and reinvent yourself. In addition to required classes take something that sounds interesting, just for fun, and sign up for clubs and activities where you will meet people of myriad interests, beliefs, politics and backgrounds. There’s so much to learn beyond the pages of a textbook.

1. Work Hard, Play Hard: Your college experienceis supposed to prepare you for the rest of your life. Devote yourself to your schoolwork, and reward yourself with time to just have fun. School comes first, but the college social experience is just as important. If you’re lucky, the friends you make at school will be there beyond graduation.

Are We In A Recession?
• August 25, 2011

Are we in a double dip recession?

Economists hedge their bets using percentage. Most suggest a 30 percent chance we’ll go back into a recession though some go out on a limb and peg the odds at up to 50 percent.
The better question is whether we are out of the one we entered three years ago. Unemployment rose from 5 percent to 9 percent and has not come down since.
I’m not an economist, so what do I know? But the answer is Yes. 100 percent. We are in a recession. My money says the Labor Department will confirm this after it accumulates and analyzes the data in 45 days.

A recession occurs when a country produces less than it did for two prior quarters. Production declines when people stop buying, and the U.S. economy relies upon the consumers buying 70 percent of production. Another 30 percent comes from federal, state and local governments.
Congress is locked in a death spiral to cut federal spending. Federal discretionary spending – dollars not on auto-pilot – will be the lower as a percentage of the economy in over 50 years.
Entitlement spending – those dollars on auto-pilot like Social Security and health care – is rising. Most of entitlement spending is merely a transfer of money from one taxpayer to another. For example, social security takes money from current workers and transfers it to retirees. That’s government spending, but not production.

Increased Medicare, Medicaid, and military health costs are rising because of we are getting older, poorer, and wars have hidden costs.

The federal government’s stimulus two years ago – a continuing source of political warfare – was very small and mostly offset by spending cuts by state and local governments. Teachers, policemen, firemen, and government employees were fired. School budgets and local governments have reduced services. Highways and bridges and other infrastructure needs are not being built or fixed. In the end, the net additional government spending was close to zero.

A fired teacher who starts a new lawn care or babysitting business earns less and buys less.
Consumers buy less for many reasons. Wages haven’t grown in 30 years. Increased gas prices and food costs mean more money goes to the same quantity of goods, so fewer dollars are available to buy other consumer goods needed to pump up the economy.

Home values have declined 30 percent and demand has declined even more. Sellers are receiving less for their property and have less to spend after they sell. New construction is almost non-existent, so construction workers have had not work for years.

Foreclosures are four times higher than just a few years. Banks are nervous that flooding the market with almost 2 million foreclosed houses will push values down further. If that happens, more banks risk becoming insolvent and being taken over by the government.
History teaches that recovering from a recession doesn’t happen when real estate values decline. Jobs cannot grow without a stable real estate market which pulls construction, manufacturing, banking, furniture, materials like steel and concrete and aluminum, and so many other industries with it. These industries that feed construction are suffering. The real estate industry is in tatters – probably the equivalent of a depression.

Banks are nervous about lending because they are afraid they won’t get paid back. Even with historically low interest rates, lending standards make it more difficult for borrowers to qualify for loans to buy a house or start a business. Consumers are buying fewer new cars.
Fewer consumers are using their credit cards that allow them to buy-now, pay-later. For years, economists have scolded consumers for using their credit cards and told them to save more. Nervous consumers are paying down their credit cards and using them less. Fearful about an uncertain future, consumers are saving more.

Stock markets have lost 15 percent of their value – trillions of dollars – in a few weeks. Retirement accounts are lower. Consumers are scared. The U.S. public and world markets have lost confidence in the U.S.’s ability to govern itself. Other countries worldwide have their own economic problems, so they are buying less.

If we’re not in a recession, that is merely a technicality. We went into a recession when unemployment rose from 5 percent to 9.8 percent. Because 90.2 percent of the workforce doesn’t produce and buy what 95 percent of the workforce would, the new goal line for determining growth became the 90.2 percent. So if unemployment drops to 9 percent and the economy rises to 92 percent of full production, that’s about 1 percent growth, though lower than the 95 percent production before the recession began. Only an economist could call that growth.

Are we in a recession? Absolutely. Have we come out of the past recession? No. We all know this. Only the economists don’t.