Weekend Roundup December 08, 2011
• December 19, 2011

Woodley House Movie Benefit

DECEMBER 8TH, 2011 AT 05:30 AM | $50-$300+ | DANIELLE@LANDSDALEASSOC.COM | TEL: 202.467.6500 | EVENT WEBSITE

An advance screening of Warner Bros Pictures’ New Year’s Eve. All proceeds go to DC-based nonprofit Woodley House, which helps people with mental illness reclaim their lives and reach their goals and aspirations. The Honorable Jane Harman will be honored.

Address

5:30 pm reception at Spices, 3333 Connecticut Avenue, NW

7:30 pm screening at Uptown, 3426 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Duke Ellington School of the Arts Holiday Gift Bazaar & Art Show

DECEMBER 10TH, 2011 AT 10:00 AM | FREE – OPEN TO PUBLIC | SHADE4DESA@GMAIL.COM | TEL: 202.282.0123 | EVENT WEBSITE

Shop ’til you drop at the 2011 Holiday Gift Bazaar & Art Show at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, 10am – 7pm. The Bazaar will feature: Fine Art & Artist; Gold & Silver Jewelry; Holiday Cards; Unique Home Décor; Authors & Calendars; Natural Bath & Beauty Products; Silent Auction; Food Vendors; Performances by duke Ellington School of the Arts departments, and much, much more!
ADMISSION IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!?Vendor space is available email shade4desa@gmail.com for details.

Address

Duke Ellington School of the Arts?

3500 R Street, NW?Washington, DC 20007

Aidah Collection Holiday Trunk Sale Series – Part 1

DECEMBER 10TH, 2011 AT 01:00 PM | $25 – $200 | FASHION@AIDAH.COM | EVENT WEBSITE

A celebration & sale of unique handmade clothing & gifts by Aidah Collection.
Complimentary cocktails, Goodie Bags and Raffle Prizes. 10% donated to charity
RSVP at Facebook.com/AidahCollection

Address

CARBON Boutique?

2643 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC, 20008?(Across the street from Woodley Park Metro)

National Philharmonic Chorale to Perform Handel’s Messiah

DECEMBER 10TH, 2011 AT 08:00 PM | $32-$79 KIDS UNDER 17 ARE FREE | TEL: (301) 581-5100 | EVENT WEBSITE

The National Philharmonic Chorale Artistic Director Stan Engebretson will conduct the National Philharmonic in Handel’s Messiah on Dec 10 at 8 pm and Dec 11 at 3 pm.
The concert will feature the National Philharmonic’s nearly 200 voice all-volunteer Chorale, as well as soloists.

Address

National Philharmonic?The Music Center at Strathmore?

5301 Tuckerman Lane?North Bethesda, MD 20852

American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras presents “Winter Magic”

DECEMBER 11TH, 2011 AT 03:00 PM | $7 ADULT, $5 SENIOR/STUDENT, FREE FOR AGES 5 AND UNDER | EVENTS@AYPO.ORG | TEL: 703-642-8051 | EVENT WEBSITE

American Youth String Ensemble?Cheri Collins, Conductor
Program:?Beethoven arr. Robert Longfield: Allegretto (from Symphony No. 7)?Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso in D Minor, Op. 3, No. 11?Tchaikovsky arr. Jamin Hoffman: Scenes from Swan Lake?Holst: Jig from St. Paul’s Suite

Address

Langley High School

6520 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101

HOLIDAY IN VENICE: Cantate Chamber Singers

DECEMBER 11TH, 2011 AT 03:00 PM | $30, STUDENTS $15 | EXEC@CANTATE.ORG | TEL: 301-986-1799 | EVENT WEBSITE

This holiday season tour the dazzling musical history of Venice with Cantate Chamber Singers. The program includes stunning seasonal works by Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Gabrieli and more. With the festive sounds of the Continuum Brass Quintet.Cantate’s director, Gisèle Becker, has been called a “music master” by Washingtonian, and the group is known for its Baroque style, innovative programming, and sharing great choral music with D.C.-area audiences in the most intimate concert settings.

Address

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

?3rd and A Streets, S.E.?Washington, D.C.

Harry Morgan, Age 96, Wonderful Actor, Wonderful Life.
•

I know that Frank Capra’s eternal Hollywood classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” is about a guy named George Bailey as impersonated by Jimmy Stewart, but this week, after reading about the passing of actor Harry Morgan at the age of 96, I couldn’t help but wonder if it shouldn’t have been about him.

Even Morgan understood what kind of life he had led as a working actor, not of the Jimmy Stewart star standing, but of the every-day-working-kind, who periodically sparkled a little larger than life, especially late in his life

That’s when Morgan, a thin-faced jack-of-all-roles who appeared in over 100 films and numerous television series, got a gift that merely made him a forever memory. From 1975 to 1983, he played the part of Colonel Sherman Potter, the last commander of the irreverent Korean War combat medical unit in the long-running series “MASH, joining Alan Alda and Mike Ferrell and other stalwarts of the hugely popular sitcom .

Potter, as MASH commanders went, was endearing, a life-time military officer who knew he was out of his element among the crassly irreverent surgeons and noncoms of this unit, operating in a war nobody understood except that they always had work patching up and trying to save the many wounded and not always succeeding.

Morgan’s Potter was old-school, he rode a horse, he had empathy and humor and took his values, but not himself, seriously. Potter, as played by Morgan, was always funny, but he had a gift, he managed to maintain his dignity and grace in the middle of a chaotic, violent, messy environment.

As an actor, he could play just about anybody, and probably had, going back to the 1943 western classic “The Ox Bow Incident.” Much much later, he would be remembered as the stoic sheriff in a changing Colorado town visited by a dying gunfighter played by John Wayne in “The Shootist”, Wayne’s last film. Jimmy Stewart was also in and a young ‘un named Ron Howard. Morgan was also Jack Webb’s sidekick in a color revival of the popular cop procedural “Dragnet.”

According to one story, when they finished with the last episode of MASH, which became the most watched episode on television ever, Morgan cried. He said that the show made him “a better person.”

In the Archive of American Television, referenced in a Dawn.com story on Morgan, he’s quoted as saying “I’d like to be remembered for being a fairly pleasant person and for having gotten along for the most part with a lot of the people I’ve worked with

“And for having a wonderful life and for having enjoyed practically every minute of it. I think I’m one of the luckiest people in the world.”

Exeunt Colonel Potter, age 96, wonderful actor, wonderful life.

Joseph E. Robert Jr. 1952-2011
•

Joseph E. Robert Jr., one of D.C.’s most well-known financiers and creator of “Fight Night,” died yesterday of glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, which he battled for three years. He was 59.
The man who started his life with a troubled childhood, getting kicked out of Mount St. Mary’s University and working odd jobs, finally made his name in his asset management company, J.E. Robert Cos. Inc., since renamed JER Partners.

Robert led a lifestyle befitting his income, yet he also never lost his charitable spirit, giving away millions of dollars. Fight Night, an annual event that benefits underprivileged District children, is one of Washington’s favorite and most rowdy charity events.

Look for an appreciation essay and other stories about Joe Robert in the Dec. 14th issue of The Georgetowner.

Much Ado About a Whole Lotta Stuff
•

For a play that’s called “Much Ado About Nothing,” it’s sure done mucho times leading me to wish that just once they’d call it “Much Ado About a Whole Lotta Stuff.”

Director Ethan McSweeney’s production, which swings to the mambo and samba rhythm of 1930s Cuba, is the latest in a long line of “Much Ados” at the Shakespeare Theatre Company alone, where I’ve seen at least three versions as well as two at the Folger, plus an impeccable Royal Shakespeare production with Derek Jacoby in the 1980s and the Kenneth-Branagh-Emma Thompson and a whole bunch of movie stars cinematic version. And that’s just me.

Tell you what. I don’t mind. McSweeney’s spiced-up production at Harman Hall may take you to Cuba and even roll out a droll version of “Guantanamera” when you never expect it, but it does something much richer than that. Dense, sprawling, entertaining as all get out, it reminds you of why we return to Shakespeare as if he were the mother load of our own experience.

McSweeney may be taking liberties in concepts and setting, but what the hey nonny nonny, that’s what Shakespeare’s for, because every play of Shakespeare’s comes with a glazed invitation to directors that reads: “Hey, take your best shot. Please.”

McSweeney has a track record when working with classics from the Greeks, to Shaw to Shakespeare, to be bold but also taking care to get to the heart and core of the material. With “Much Ado About Nothing,” the centerpieces are the bright, bickering, bitching, brawling Benedick and Beatrice, the sworn enemies of love, romance and marriage, who are of course so well matched that it takes three hours for them to realize it.

That’s because Shakespeare doesn’t make things easy for his characters, couples and heroes, including a girl named Hero in this one. His comedies, romantic or just plain silly, are exercises in the art of the well-made play—they’re full of sub-plots, side-trips and sidekicks, and digressions, some dark doings and low humor, which may exist only to elicit a belly laugh for the groundlings

So we are in 1930s Cuba, which has soldiers and dukes dressed up in the uniforms of Batista’s armies but still heading towards Messina, not Havana. Although the music is hot, hot, hot at times and the dancing is furious, it’s still the same old story. The victorious Count Pedro, along with his brother the dark prince Don John, his cynical, brave and witty captain Benedick, and the heroic young bravo Claudio comes to the house of old friend Leonardo to celebrate. Here reside Leonardo’s sweet and prized daughter, Hero, and the acid tongued and beautiful Beatrice. Benedick and Beatrice commence to do battle, Claudio is smitten madly with Hero to the point where they will be married shortly, there’s a gala party, there’s Don John planning to undo the happiness of anybody that’s happy by slandering Hero, and the friends of Benedick and Beatrice launch a campaign which will have them believing that each loves the other.

And then there’s the constable, Dogberry, but have patience, prithee.

Any production of this play rides on its Beatrice and Benedick. With Derek Smith – caustic, prone to panic within a yard of romantic sentiment, quick and nimble verbally and on and off his feet – and the brazen, sharp, fetching Kathryn Meisle, the race is swift, smart and funny. The two bounce pungent aphorisms, biting retorts and tart bullets at each other. Double kudos for the red-headed Meisle who came late to the production.

And they’re really funny. Because at least two—there are others—of the great comic moments in the production have nothing to do with verbal acrobatics. They require Benedick and then Beatrice to remain hidden while they overhear their friends describe them as in love with each other, their friends being fully aware of their presence. Smith crawls like a crab, runs like a burglar and shrinks to the size of a penny while Beatrice, working her way like a clumsy eel around the garden and the fountain in the end, with no other resource, nearly drowns herself.

This is sheer, silent movie slapstick, physical humor done with great inelegance, exposing the actors as the best sorts of comic thespians, the kind that could stand naked in a crowd while pretending to be splendidly dressed.

No matter where you set “Much Ado”—in a Mafia restaurant, in Cuba, on an ocean liner—the false slander of Hero—appealingly played by Kate Hurster—has always been a dark bone in a light play, it exposes the quick-to-believe Claudio as a callow, unworthy youth, Don Pedro as a powerful aristocrat too prone to meddle in the lives of others, and so forth. But you would be a fool to think that things don’t sort themselves out to a happy ending. This is not “Hamlet,” after all.

Enter Dogberry. Enter Verges. Enter Ted van Griethuysen. Enter Floyd King. Enter two Washington stage treasures.

In Shakespeare’s time, the two would no doubt have played Romeo and Juliet, Claudio and Hero, Benedick and Beatrice. As it is the two have had their way with kings and Falstaff and Malvolio and others for several decades. They look for all the world like Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel, if they did Shakespeare.

Here they are the town constable Dogberry, a walking and malapropism, and his assistant Verges. Doddering, slow, hidebound and authentic as ballast on a ship of state, the two are practically tied at the hip, lest they break it.

Dogberry is one of those ridiculous officials whose sole authority is the passion with which he believes every wrong thing he says. He insists on it, as a point of fact. And what van Griethuysen does with this part—often overplayed—is make Dogberry human. He is a close cousin to Falstaff, and his charge to his militia to keep the peace by pretending not to hear the noise of chaos, sound in a ridiculous but believable way like Falstaff’s protestations about honor on a battlefield.

McSweeney has put together a production of “Much Ado” that is surely for people who might not care for Shakespeare but are eager to be entertained. But maybe even better, he’s staged a production, helped by dazzling sets and marvelous actors, a Shakespeare play that’s for those who really love a Shakespeare play.

“Much Ado About Nothing” runs through Jan. 3rd

Georgetown Observer, Dec. 14, 2011
•

Mayor Asks for Town-Gown Peace

Georgetown University held its annual “Holiday Open House” Dec. 7 in Healy Hall’s Riggs Library, where neighbors, business and community leader and university officials gathered for conversation, refreshments and music. Among them was Mayor Vincent Gray, who had visions of streetcars, a GU-GWU basketball game and town-gown peace in his head.

University president John DeGioia introduced Mayor Gray to the crowd in the grand, multi-storied room which one guest described as something out of “Harry Potter.” Gray commended associate vice president Linda Greenan and Brenda Atkinson-Willoughby of Georgetown’s external relations office and mentioned Georgetown’s hot town-gown issue, the 10-year campus plan under consideration by the District’s zoning commission. “Can you imagine working on one every year?” asked Gray. As for working on disagreements about it, he added: “I would not say it’s delightful. You will get to a conclusion.”

Gray envisions the District becoming a leader in high technology, he said, as well as using the collective minds of the universities in D.C. As if needing to clarify, he said: “I have no intention in taxing universities.”After touting new rail routes in the city, Gray said, “We ought to bring streetcars back to Georgetown. We already have the tracks.” One more item on Gray’s wish list: a basketball game between Georgetown University and his alma mater George Washington University (the college teams do not play each other).

Pie Sisters on M Street Plans to Open Dec. 20

Hold on to your pie pans; the gas line has been connected at last.

Pie Sisters is ready to open its first store at 3423 M St., N.W., on Dec. 20, just in time for Hanukkah and Christmas and Kwanzaa, too. With ovens, coolers and counter ready for action, Allison, Cat and Erin Blakely will feed the town’s new taste for pies, sweet, creamy and fruity — and a few savory ones, too.
“The word is spreadiang,” Allison said. “People are excited. They have been so nice.”

Bakers and businesswomen, the Blakely sisters hail from Great Falls, Va., two having gone to Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington and also played college basketball. Allison worked at the State Department and finance section of NBC in New York; Erin at BCBG Max Azria. Cat still works at the State Department. They are parishioners of St. John’s Church on O Street.

Already known around town for their pies for weddings and social and charitable events, the Blakely trio said they chose the site because of its closeness to Georgetown University and its visibility – you can’t miss it turning off Key Bridge from Virginia – and that “the location is not too small and not too big.”
Erin added: “We’ve had Georgetown students contact us for part-time jobs.”

The shop will sell pies in three sizes, the hand-held “cuppie,” seven-inch and nine-inch, and flavors include apple caramel crunch, pecan, key lime and banana, coconut or chocolate cream.

They will also be offering gluten-free pies for the first time. The big pie can cost up to $35, but return the glass plate for $5 off next purchase – which appears irresistible. The sisters are also checking out chicken pot pie and BBQ pie recipes. There will also be chairs and tables in front for about 20 with a coffee counter as well.

Bank St.’s First Electric Car Charging Station

Get free energy for your electric or plug-in hybrid car for three months, while you shop or visit friends.
Sponsored by Eastbanc and Jamestown developers, the electric station is within a Bank Street PMI garage – at 3307 M Street, N.W. After three months, a charge for your car will cost less than $2.00.

(This is the town’s first public spot for electric car chargers; Georgetown University has had two for a few months.)

The car’s specific connection is to a SemaConnect’s ChargePro with Level 2 (240 VAC/30 amps); it can charge electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles with a J1772 inlet.

Boathouse plans to Get Fresh Look by Park Service

Now that the Georgetown Waterfront Park is completed, the National Park Service has turned its attention to another old riverside dream: a new boathouse on the Potomac River.

Specifically, according to the NPS, it is “examining the feasibility of implementing a non-motorized boathouse zone within the District of Columbia along the Potomac River waterfront upstream of the Georgetown Waterfront Park.

“The project area includes the waterfront land from immediately upstream of the Georgetown Waterfront Park at 34th Street, to approximately 1,200 feet upstream of Key Bridge, including federal properties north of Water Street / K Street. The purpose of this study is to identify specific ways NPS can enhance access to the river for user groups, and complement the riverside experiences provided by the Georgetown Waterfront Park, part of Rock Creek Park, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Through this feasibility study, NPS will be studying what structures and facilities can potentially be accommodated within this non-motorized boathouse zone (project area). The study will look at potential scenarios related to the waterfront that are consistent with the necessary and appropriate uses for this zone. This study will lay the groundwork for future decision-making regarding

“(1) further planning and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance as necessary to implement the non-motorized boathouse zone; and

“(2) potential development/improvement of NPS facilities.”

The feasibility study will be completed next summer after discussions with key stakeholders. Then, the study will go before the public in autumn 2012. Among the key stakeholders along the shoreline: Georgetown University, which has lobbied for a boathouse for years.

Currently, according to the NPS, “there are existing facilities within the non-motorized boathouse zone, including the Washington Canoe Club, Jack’s Boathouse, and the Potomac Boat Club. There is also riverfront green space and a site historically occupied by Dempsey’s Boathouse, which washed away in a flood in the 1930s.”

The Park Service held an informational meeting and open house Dec. 13 to talk about the study and answer questions at Washington Harbour.

Iraq’s Maliki Stops by G.U.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Georgetown University Dec. 13 to meet with its president John DeGioia along with school deans and faculty members.

As the U.S. withdraws its last troops from Iraq by Dec. 31, Al-Maliki flew to Washington to confer with President Barack Obama Dec. 12. Al-Maliki’s drive-by held up traffic near the university’s Canal Road entrance.

No press was allowed at the meeting, according to the campus media, and much of Healy and Copley Lawns was cordoned off for security reasons.

Hoyas Defeat IUPUI in Men’s Basketball (photos)
• December 15, 2011

The Georgetown Hoyas Men’s Basketball team improved their record to 5 wins against only one loss with a victory over the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars (IUPUI) at the Verizon Center on Monday, November 28, 2011. The game was far closer than the final score of 81-58 would indicate. The Hoyas led by only a single point after the first half. Junior forward Hollis Thompson of the Hoyas finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore forward Nate Lubick set a career high with 14 rebounds. The Jaguars’ record fell to 2-5.

Click on the icons below for out photos from the Verizon Center. [gallery ids="100398,113047,113136,113057,113067,113077,113087,113097,113107,113117,113145,113154,113037,113007,113208,113199,113017,113190,113181,113027,113172,113163,113127" nav="thumbs"]

Abbot and Costello: an Economics Lesson
• December 14, 2011

Great news!

The economy added 120,000 new jobs in November, pushing the unemployment rate down from 9 percent to 8.6 percent, the lowest since President Obama’s second month in office.

Actually, the private sector picked up 140,000 new jobs because governments laid off 20,000 people.

That should make everyone happy. Democrats need the unemployment rate to go down if they are to have a chance at keeping the White House and some voice in the Congress. Republicans will crow about the decrease in government workers. Independents, the largest political party in the U.S., tend to be more secretive about what they think, but they will let us know on election day.

But wait. The number of unemployed dropped almost 600,000, from 13.9 million to 13.3 million, but only 120,000 new jobs were created.

How does that math work?

No economist or accountant or mathematician can explain that.

Only a moviemaker can explain these numbers.

Barry Levinson, a Hollywood film producer and director with more than three dozen movies to his credit, perhaps best known for Rain Man which won four Academy Awards, decided that the economy isn’t just confusing. It’s comedy.

He revised Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s on First” routine to explain how the Department of Labor measures changes in unemployment.

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America.

ABBOTT: Good subject. Terrible times. It’s 9 percent.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 16 percent.

COSTELLO: You just said 9 percent.

ABBOTT: 9 percent unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 9 percent out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 16 percent.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 16 percent unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 9 percent.

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 9 percent or 16 percent?

ABBOTT: 9 percent are unemployed. 16 percent are out of work.

COSTELLO: IF you are out of work, you are unemployed?

ABBOTT: No, you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!

ABBOTT: No, you miss my point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work can’t be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn’t be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But they are ALL out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work stopped looking. They gave up. And, if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So, if you’re off the unemployment rolls, that would count as less unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely, it goes down. That’s how you get to 9 percent. Otherwise, it would be 16 percent. You don’t want to read about 16 percent unemployment, do ya?

COSTELLO: That would be frightening.

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means they’re two ways to bring down the unemployment number?

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to just stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like an economist.

COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!

Bingo is right! 120,000 people got new jobs last month. Another 350,000 quit looking, but they don’t count.Well, they won’t count as unemployed and won’t be entitled to unemployment insurance. But they may be entitled to food stamps, Medicaid and housing assistance. And if there’s a link between increased poverty and the crime rate, other public costs will increase.

So, the deficit will go up as the unemployment rate goes down. That’s economics for you.

Barry Levinson is right. Economics is pure theater. But is it comedy? Or drama or tragedy? Ask those 350,000 who can’t find work and quit looking.

Better yet, ask Newt Gingrich who recently proposed allowing 9-year-olds to enter the workforce.

Encore. Encore. Abbott and Costello, where are you?

Jack Evans Report, Dec. 14, 2011
•

At our last legislative meeting, I introduced a bill called the “Reimbursable Detail Expansion and Promoter Regulation Act of 2011.” This bill is designed to bring to the forefront of the Council’s legislative agenda the issue of violence associated with certain late night entertainment venues, particularly when so-called “promoters” are involved. 

The bill I introduced would direct the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration to create regulations covering promoters, which has been the subject of discussion even prior to recent events. Promoters don’t have accountability to the government or the community the way an ABRA license-holder does, and creating a licensing process for them will help with this problem. My bill creates a framework for defining promoters, looking at items such as fee-sharing arrangements based on admission head counts, for example, while creating reasonable exemptions for performers and off-premises ticket sellers like Ticketmaster.

The other substantive section of the bill would impact participation in the reimbursable detail program, which provides for additional Metropolitan Police Department officers on the streets, with costs being shared by bars and the city. The intent of my bill is to shift the presumption to require certain establishments to pay for adequate security unless they apply for and are granted an exemption. If, for example, an establishment is a restaurant by day but then has a second life as a kind of club a couple of nights a month, then that establishment would have to participate in the reimbursable detail program on entertainment nights unless ABRA grants them an exemption. On nights where promoters are involved, the extra security would always be required. 

The introduction of this bill starts a conversation on the issue, and there will be an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to share views for how to refine the proposal going forward. I have heard a number of good ideas already, such as increasing the role of advisory neighborhood commissions in the process or involving the commander of the relevant police district in these decisions. There may also be a way to incorporate “special police” officers into the security requirements, who are not members of MPD but are licensed by MPD. In contrast with MPD reimbursable detail officers who patrol the streets outside identified establishments, “special police” officers work inside an establishment and have arrest authority on the premises.

I look forward to other ideas being presented during the hearing process. I was joined by four of my colleagues in the introduction of my bill, Councilmembers Michael Brown, Phil Mendelson, Muriel Bowser and Marion Barry, which I hope demonstrates the support necessary to ensure that the relevant committee chair, Councilmember Jim Graham, quickly schedules a hearing to move the bill forward.

Literary Amnesty
• December 7, 2011

Starting today, Monday Dec. 5 and continuing through Feb. 5, 2012, D.C. Public Library cardholders are being granted a pardon for all offenses regarding overdue, lost and damaged library material.

The Library’s “Check It In” campaign is an effort to get back as many overdue books as possible to benefit more District residents. The Library also wants to also ensure that all cardholder information is up-to-date, allowing an opportunity for updating your customer records with new email addresses, phone numbers or mailing addresses.

The 60-day campaign is a no-holds-barred clemency—no matter how beat up the book’s spine, no matter how many scratches on the CD, no matter how many cups of coffee have twisted and warped the pages, you can return them to D.C. Public Library no questions asked, with no fines of fees charged. Even if the item has been lost, all you have to do is report it and forgiveness will be granted.

When returning your books, see a library staff person in order to clear your record of fines and fees.

So “Check It In” and rediscover the joys of your local library. For more information visit DCLibrary.org

Truth, Justice and The American Way
•

Superman! Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Fighting a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American Way!

He was Superman, and everyone knew that he would save the world.

Last August, Congress, unable to agree on how to reduce budget deficits, appointed a “Super Committee” to do the job. The idea was that 12 members of Congress, half Republicans and half Democrats, half from the Senate and half from the House, could craft a compromise that 535 Representatives and Senators could not.

World credit markets were so nervous when Congress almost forced the nation into a default that Congress passed a “lose-lose” law that included $1.2 trillion in automatic deficit savings so distasteful that it thought the Super Committee could finally make the tough choices.

This was real-life “Survivor,” like the TV shows where strangers stranded on an island form alliances to vote off others. In Survivor Congress, both Republicans and Democrats were confident that they could outwit, outplay and outlast the other side.

Had one member broken ranks and joined the other side, the consequences were dire. Sure defeat in next year’s election because all their political support and money would dry up instantly. Probable loss of both the White House and control of the Congress next year. The only hope was that all 12 suddenly and simultaneously become statesmen, setting aside their individual differences for the collective good of the country.

Despite the damage to the country, both parties were surely relieved when no one from their party broke ranks.

Who was kidding whom? The Super Committee hardly met.

Most communication was like fourth graders passing notes back and forth through others:

Sally’s note to George: Does Billy like Mary?

George’s note to Sally: Does Mary like him?

Sally’s note to George: I’ll ask her if you’ll tell me if Billy likes her

George’s note to Sally: Billy needs to know if Mary likes him first. By then, the bell rang, and class was over. Like Congress, Billy and Mary had short attention spans.

After three months of passing notes back and forth, the Super Committee finally quit. Its most difficult task was writing the note to tell the world that it quit. None of them was super enough to stand in front of the cameras with flags behind them and tell the world of its failure.

Their assignment wasn’t even that difficult. The super committee was charged with reducing budget deficits by $1.2 trillion over ten years beginning 2013. No pain this year or next.

Federal spending is approaching $4 trillion per year. So, $1.2 trillion out of $50 trillion, or more, over ten years should be doable. But, it wasn’t. Worse, they know that the real task is to close the budget gap by $4 trillion or more.

What will Congress do now? Nothing. Blame each other. Undo the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts since no one liked them anyway. Posture for next year’s election. Watch its approval rating drop from its current 9 percent. (Isn’t that statistically the same as 0 percent?)

If the world economy weren’t in such a mess, a failure of this magnitude would probably have sent stock markets spiraling down and interest rates shooting up. Both are worse than tax increases since they reduce savings and raise prices on everything.

But, at this point in history, the U.S. economy is considered the “least of the terrible,” so money is flowing into the U.S., pushing short-term interest rates to virtually 0 percent.

Interest consumes 15 percent of the U.S. budget. If interest rates climb back to their 2006 level, the cost will be hundreds of billions a year, in fact, more than Super Committee’s $1.2 trillion target. If (when?) that happens, the only options will be steeper cuts to all federal spending programs, larger tax increases, or even more enormous borrowings to pay the cost of borrowing. The Super Committee simply lacked the courage to do the right thing.

Why was it called “super”? The only thing that was super was the extent of its failure.

Superman was everyone’s hero. He could fix anything. The Super Committee was by no means super.