Washington Metro News

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sick of Texas barbecue.

That might be blasphemy for a Republican, but it’s true.

There are two things I like about Barack Obama. First, he is a White Sox fan, and he is not likely to jump on a Cubs bandwagon just to please the yuppies on the North Side of Chicago.

Second — and this is just a hope — his arrival in D.C. may inspire some Chicago pizzerias to move here to the nation’s capital. Read more...

The Chief Technology Officer for Washington, D.C., government ran an "Apps for Democracy" contest for online tools that really help people with getting help from the government and getting on with their lives. This is a crowd sourcing model that has real, useful results that can be generalized throughout the country and maybe beyond.

Normally, in real life, it would take far longer and been much more expensive to have developed these. Check out dps.dc.gov for the list. Here're a few good results from the contest. Read more...

In what will undoubtedly go down in history as the stupidest and most dangerous move by the D.C. City Council, bars in the nation’s capital will extend "last call" from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. during the Obama inauguration.

Why now? Why for this president-elect? Likely the dollar signs in the eyes of owners of local watering holes have pushed the lawmakers over the edge into this area of irresponsibility. The likelihood of alcohol-related injuries and deaths will skyrocket, arrests for public drunkenness and disorderliness will increase, and the potential for tragedy to mar Barack Obama's celebration will be heightened. Read more...

It was the best of times and the worst of times for America’s labor movement.

It was the best of times, because they now have the political muscle that they have been working so hard for over the last decade. Both the House and Senate are dominated by labor-friendly Democrats and the Obama administration is expected to appoint Labor-friendly David Bonior to be the new Labor secretary.

But it is also the worst of times, because the labor movement is now being exposed for what it has become: out of touch, counterproductive, inefficient, unnecessary, corrupt and anachronistic. Read more...

It’s my blog and I will cry if I want to.

My dog woke me up this morning at 4 a.m., and then my mother, who is visiting from Chicago for the holiday, yelled from the guest room, “There is somebody at the front door.”

I traipsed downstairs, opened the door and saw D.C.’s finest gathered outside.

“Sir, do you own a black Lexus?” Read more...

It's easy to stand back and see how well the men and women of Washington know each other. There are unwritten rules — unwritten, that is, until now.

First introduction is easy. You shake. If you're really adventurous, you can grasp the other's hand with both of yours.

At the second encounter, how about a hug? A restrained one. You barely touch and the woman gives the man's back two light taps. It is accompanied by the air kiss.

Social meeting No. 3 is time for the honest-to-God real hug, along with the cheek peck. Read more...

Nov. 4, 2008 was certainly an historic day, but not just for politics.

The first annual Junior Ambassadors Tennis Cup held its finals, right here in Washington, at the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center.

Eight countries had 14-and-under boys and girls in the draws: the U.S., France, Italy, Venezuela, Japan, Czech Republic, Canada and Kazakhstan. Read more...

Back in February in this space, I talked about our new D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, calling her tough and talking about the steep hill she has to climb in her effort to reform the District's public schools under Mayor Adrian Fenty (D).

It’s seven months later, and Michelle Rhee is swinging for the fences, working her heart out to bring new energy into the city's public education system, wrecked by years of indifference and inaction by the Teachers Union. She's turning the system on its heels, and, so far, working to create real change. Read more...

Many D.C. residents are breathing a sigh of relief now that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the city’s longstanding handgun ban. Finally, we are free to protect ourselves from the tyranny of crime!!!

Some of us can’t wait to begin the process of taking our homes back from the thugs and murderers who terrorized the city for years without repudiation. However, D.C.’s proposed regulations, while allowing residents to keep registered handguns in their homes, nonetheless contain restrictions that will keep them from using them for their intended purpose.

Incredibly, the regulations stipulate that the guns have to be kept disassembled and unloaded when not being used. What is the point of having a gun for self-protection when you’ll already be dead and gone by the time you get a chance to use it in self-defense? Read more...

Many people have come out in anger against the death in police custody of cop-killer Ronnie White, citing a violation of his civil liberties.

But few have spoken up for the family of Cpl. Richard Findley, who died in the line of duty while trying to protect the public against a murderous car thief. I am sick and tired of people coddling criminals who have no regard for the lives of law-abiding citizens.

The truth of the matter is that White committed a horrible crime that incited the justifiable rage of the slain officer's grief-stricken comrades. I am an uncompromising advocate of law enforcement officers adhering to the rule of law and under no circumstances should they become the judge, jury and executioner of these gun-toting thugs. However, one can certainly understand the frustration and rage of officers who put their lives on the line to protect the public. Read more...