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Articles
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Tom Sherwood's Notebook
| Uh, oh ... here come the 60s again? |
VOICE writes, "
The low- to midpriced Kohl's clothing store is running a new TV ad with a pleasant musical theme: "We're all in this together." We're not quite sure what that has to do with the dresses it is selling, but there you are.
It could be just our seasonal allergies, but there seem to be signs of a new version of the '60s heading our way.
Environmentalism has big corporations posing as green. Race relations seem shaky again. Questions of class and power are always with us, but now there's a certain tilt away from the conservative mantras of the recent decades.
Look at the presidential campaigns. Each has been ensnared, some more than once, in demands that they denounce remarks by their supporters, remarks that are deemed politically incorrect.
And, of course, there is war -- "War, what is it good for?" goes the lyric -- that enters every political debate in so many ways.
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Posted on Apr 30, 2008 22:45pm.
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| The Pope, 'power trips' and Powerball ... |
VOICE writes, " We're telling you now.
From the time the pope gets into Washington on the afternoon of April 15 and leaves in the morning two days later, those snarled in traffic could be cussin' and fussin'.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier says that when the popemobile rolls through the city, streets on the route will be cleared of traffic and parked cars.
For extra precaution, there will be little advance notice of this rolling gridlock, so prepare yourself.
The pope's visit certainly qualifies as worthy of all that police worry.
But the real "power trip" we have in mind is the city's new tourism slogan for the coming seasons, "Create Your Own Power Trip."
We were stunned when we first heard it.
In all our years of journalism, we've never heard or seen "power trip" used other than with a negative connotation. So now we're going to have a whole campaign of telling families and others to come to Washington for their own power trips?
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Posted on Apr 20, 2008 14:36pm.
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| Finding fault ... |
VOICE writes, " You may have missed it, but the circus is in town.
The Notebook knows because we saw a circle of elephants, hooked together trunks to tails, each saying the one in front is leading the scandal parade.
Some news outlets made a huge deal out of comments from D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols that her reports on growing tax refunds were ignored during the past few years.
Nichols noted that her reports went to the entire D.C. Council, but particularly the Committee on Finance and Revenue, headed by Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans.
We had a different take on it. If the auditor saw that property-tax refunds were out of whack, why didn't she or her office ask questions about it? Why didn't she raise hell? Why not investigate if there's something out of line?
One local veteran auditor agreed that the auditor's response was kind of like a firefighter pointing at a fire across the street, but not doing anything to put it out. "
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Posted on Dec 23, 2007 19:42pm.
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| Finding fault ... |
VOICE writes, " You may have missed it, but the circus is in town.
The Notebook knows because we saw a circle of elephants, hooked together trunks to tails, each saying the one in front is leading the scandal parade.
Some news outlets made a huge deal out of comments from D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols that her reports on growing tax refunds were ignored during the past few years.
Nichols noted that her reports went to the entire D.C. Council, but particularly the Committee on Finance and Revenue, headed by Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans.
We had a different take on it. If the auditor saw that property-tax refunds were out of whack, why didn't she or her office ask questions about it? Why didn't she raise hell? Why not investigate if there's something out of line?
One local veteran auditor agreed that the auditor's response was kind of like a firefighter pointing at a fire across the street, but not doing anything to put it out. "
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Posted on Dec 02, 2007 14:23pm.
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| Plotkin, the rude American ... ? |
VOICE writes, "Everyone knows Mark Plotkin can be a handful. He can be intense. He takes issues — and his WTOP commentator job — seriously.
But he takes nothing more seriously than the lack of congressional voting rights for our city. And for that, he wound up tossed out of the White House last week.
His crime? Alleged rudeness.
Plotkin had the audacity to call out a question to first lady Laura Bush during a White House photo op with the Ballou High School Marching Band.
The kids from Ballou, who were there because they’re the subjects of a new — and good — documentary, should pay attention. This is a civics lesson they should learn about their hometown: Lord help you if someone thinks you’re impolite. "
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Posted on Nov 09, 2007 15:35pm.
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| Exploring the art of politics ... |
VOICE writes, "Exploring the art of politics ...
The “exploratory” loophole in D.C. election law is closing.
Several candidates — major and minor — have used the lax law to raise political funds and barely report how the money was spent. It also allowed candidates to campaign without formally campaigning.
It was all very confusing to the public and to the media.
And now the loopy loophole is closing.
The council last week voted 11-1 to toughen reporting requirements for exploratory campaigns.
“These exploratory committees should be just that — exploratory,” said at-large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz after the vote on her bill. She said there should be a real difference between “testing the waters” and going for an Olympic swim.
Under the new law, within a year of any election, exploratory candidates will have to file monthly reports on donations and expenditures. Any leftover exploratory funds will have to be used by a political or charitable organization. (That means you can’t pocket the money.)"
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Posted on Oct 19, 2007 10:24am.
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| Signs of the times . . . |
VOICE writes, "Somebody got canned this week. A famous person was appointed to a new job. And, as we expected, District citizens showed up in droves at the new Bloomingdale's to send sales-tax revenue to Annapolis.
But let's not get ahead of our selves.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and school construction czar Allen Lew showed up at Hardy Middle School on Monday to announce the city was firing the contractor and reassigning city workers in charge of the over-budget and overdue renovation there.
The construction joint venture — Arrow/Schlosser — said it likely would seek millions in unpaid fees before abandoning the job. A spokesperson blamed horrendous school management and "change orders" for all the problems. "
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Posted on Oct 11, 2007 20:25pm.
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