Our nation’s capital–the swampland, the village, the District, DC–became the sixth place in the nation to recognize the importance of marriage equality as same-sex marriage became legal. Congratulations to the new couples in DC who have chosen to make their love official.
It was cold and drizzling outside the City Courthouse just after 6 a.m. on Wednesday, but no one seemed to mind among the same-sex couples waiting excitedly for the chance to apply for a marriage license.
“This is a dream come true,” said Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, as she smiled ear to ear and held up her ticket indicating she was first in line with her partner of 12 years, Angelisa Young, 47. “We wanted it so bad.”
Gay-rights advocates hailed the day as a milestone for equal rights and a symbolic victory as same-sex marriage became legal in the nation’s capital.
And shockingly, good for Chief Justice Roberts and his decision to reject a request from opponents of marriage equality to put the new law on hold. John Roberts sure is fabulous.
Can it get any worse? Even in the midst of what sounds like a very bad situation for Congressman Massa, there is some irony in the reporting out of Roll Call and POLITICO. Both have chosen divergent paths in their editorial of the Massa retirement, as is evident in these headline screenshots.
Barack Obama gets a surprise visit in the night from ex-Presidents Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Clinton, Ford, Reagan and Carter to get a few pointers about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and why it’s so important.
There are a lot of new technologies being developed these days to help support the realtime web and connect all the pieces we’ve been using for the past several years into one instantaneous communication stream. Google’s pubsubhubbub standard as well as rssCloud allow for instant updates of RSS and Atom feeds. Well it seems like Google Reader has just turned on PSHB support so I’ve installed an appropriate plugin to support it here at DoubleSpeak Media.
“Every child should be taught to cook in school, not just talk about nutrition all day. Good food can be made in 15 minutes. This could be the first generation where the kids teach the parents.” -Jamie Oliver, at TED
What is TED you ask? I don’t really know since they won’t invite me, but these days it’s an annual conference that invites all the cool people you want to hear talk and hang out with, to, well, talk and hang out. It’s about Technology, Education, and Design and it always produces a ton of interesting content. Floating around on the internets today we find a presentation by celebrity chef, writer, and food advocate/activist Jamie Oliver. Check it out.
Jamie was also the winner of this year’s $100,000 TED prize, awarded to an individual to implement his or her “One Wish to Change the World.”
This past week, the White House celebrated Black History Month with a star-studded concert, featuring some amazing civil rights-era singers, as well as some contemporary artists singing tunes from the past. The full show is now airing on PBS stations throughout the country. The series is called “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement.” Don’t have time to watch TV…here are some highlights from the show.
Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball sees a potential political pitfall for DC mayor Adrian Fenty after the city’s lackluster efforts at snow removal.
Matthews says, “This city needs a little better effort right now.”
He goes on to note that this is an election year.
“I’ve watched the big cities where mayors lose their jobs over stuff like this… It’s time for competition in the next primary.”
Fenty, who was first elected in 2006 and won every precinct in the city, has suffered from a serious of gaffes and hubris. A recent Washington Post poll revealed Fenty’s approval rating at 42%, while 49% disapprove of the job he’s doing.
At present Fenty has no challengers. DC Council Chair Vincent Gray is considering a bid. Millionaire developer R. Donahue Peebles, who last year talked about running but pulled back for family reasons, is re-considering.
DC political consultant Chuck Thies doesn’t quite agree with Matthews, but sees problems ahead for Fenty. “Chris Matthews pays attention to the White House and Capitol Hill, not local DC politics. It’s not the snow that is Fenty’s problem, it’s Fenty himself. He ran as a populist and a hands-on public official. That ended soon after he was sworn in and was replaced with arrogance and aloofness. Add to that some very real concerns that he’s handing out city contracts to his personal friends, plus a poor relationship with local press, and you’ve got the perfect formula for toppling a once-popular incumbent. All this race needs is a viable candidate with the guts to jump in.”
