After World War Two, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington DC tested Italian Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini’s brain for dementia, then lost it. A Boundary Stones video from WETA.
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James A. LaFontaine owned and operated the Maryland Athletic Club, better known as Jimmy’s Place, on the border of Bladensburg, Maryland and the District of Columbia, from the 1920s to the 1940s. It was said to be the biggest illegal gambling casino between Saratoga and Palm Beach. Jimmy’s was purely about gambling, and allowed no booze, women, or guns. It was bare-bones, a big barn of a place, though the kitchen served a pretty good beef stew.
In 1931, “Gentleman Jimmy” was kidnapped near his DC home by members of Philadelphia’s Hoff gang. It ended calmly, and seemed very genteel, but Jimmy Fontaine lost control of his casino to the mob afterwards, while remaining as the frontman.
Mr. LaFontaine died in 1949 at age 81, and is buried in Capitol Hill’s Congressional Cemetery.
More:
“Washington’s Godfather: ‘Gentleman Gambler’ Jimmy Lafontaine,” Callum Cleary, Boundary Stones
“Mr. Jim Made a Million From a Casino Brooking No Booze, Women, or Guns,” Charles Price, Sports Illustrated
“Gamblers Once Thrived in the City, Leonard Hughes, Washington Post
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Tuesday was Bagel Day at the software development center, and I favored Bagels & Baguettes near Stanton Park. There was a line when I got there, around 8:30 AM. The shop was near the Senate office buildings and the Heritage Foundation, so there was a TV tuned to CNN to keep news-obsessed customers occupied.
By the time I got my two dozen hot bagels, the damnedest thing was on that television. An airplane had crashed into a World Trade Center tower in New York, and the building was on fire. It was September 11, 2001.
I went to the office break room and put out the bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon. I guess I was making coffee when the second plane hit the other tower. I figured people still had to eat.
US Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh was eating at Morton’s steakhouse in DC on July 6th when womens’ rights activists found out, and protested in front of the pricey eatery. Mr. Kavanaugh had to sneak out the back without dessert. Sad, but there’s always Grubhub.
Morton’s angrily responded that “Politics … should not trample the freedom … of the right to … eat dinner.” Protesters reponded by flooding Morton’s with fake reservations by phone and on Open Table.
There were other reactions. “Sounds like he just wanted some privacy to make his own dining decisions,” Chasten Buttigieg tweeted, alluding to Kavanaugh’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that guaranteed abortion access on the basis of Americans’ right to privacy. And after Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if “These justices … have no right to privacy?”, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted “Pretty sure they overturned that right 2 weeks ago Doocy.”
More:
“Brett Kavanaugh is the latest target of protests at D.C. restaurants,” Emily Heil and Tim Carman, Washington Post
“‘Let him eat cake’: AOC reacts to Kavanaugh being forced out of restaurant by abortion rights protesters,” Axios
“Sorry, but the Constitution contains no right to eat dinner,” Washington Post
“Group offers up to $250 for SCOTUS justices sightings after Kavanaugh protest,” Axios
“Protests of Public Officials in Restaurants Aren’t Going Away,” Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian
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On April 16, 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act freeing the 3000 enslaved people in the District of Columbia. This was nine months before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the Confederate states, many of whom actually remained in bondage until the the war’s end in 1865, and 20 months before ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which definitively outlawed slavery everywhere in the United States.
Tomorrow Saturday, April 16th, the District of Columbia will celebrate District Emancipation Day, with speeches, concerts, fireworks and parades. There’s a bit of rain on that parade, though, if you take a closer look at history. That 1862 act was called the Compensated Emancipation Act, and it authorized payments to DC slaveowners rather than liberation of enslaved people on moral grounds. It even sought to promote emigration of former slaves outside the borders of the United States.
In any case, Black Washingtonians had their freedom. That’s definitely worth celebrating.
More:
“When Slaveowners Got Reparations,” Tera W. Hunter, New York Times
“D.C. celebrates Emancipation Day,” Cuneyt Dil, Axios Washington D.C.
“D.C. celebrates its 160th Emancipation Day this weekend,” Elliot C. Williams, Alexya Brown, and Rachel Kurzius, WAMU News
“Bondage to Freedom: Commemorating DC Emancipation Day,” Karl Racine, Medium
“The DC Emancipation Day Celebration Is Back After Two Years. Here Are the DC Street Closures for Saturday’s Parade and Concert.” Damare Baker, Washingtonian
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Inspired by a trucker protest that choked Ottawa for three weeks and caused millions in economic damage, US haulers are hellbent on blocking arteries in and around Washington, DC, targeting March 1st, when President Biden delivers the State of the Union address. It’s a “People’s Convoy” or “Freedom Convoy,” depending who you ask.
What the truckers are protesting: What’ve you got? It’s a protest against COVID rules, high fuel costs, lack of truck parking areas, excessive regulation, insuffucient freedom. Oh yeah, and the 2020 presidential election. So there you have it, another loosely-linked libertarian clusterfuck of chaos.
Self-proclaimed convoy leaders claim the trucks won’t clog local DC streets, but will strangle the surrounding Beltway displaying protest signs and banners. An anti-Obama trucker protest tried to strangle the Beltway back in 2013 but couldn’t, since it would take about 10,000 eighteen-wheelers to do that, and they got 30.
But this isn’t 2013, so it’s likely a few extemist truckers will park in choke points, if not on DC streets then at key Beltway exits, bridges, and overpasses. That was the Canadian truckers’ tactic in Windsor-Detroit, and in truck protests in Brazil (2018) and Chile (2020). Police in the DC-MD-VA area are on alert, as are Capitol Hill Police and the National Guard.
More:
“Here’s What We Know So Far About Possible Trucker Convoy Protests Coming To D.C. Soon,” Margaret Barthel, DCist
“A Truck Caravan With Far-Right Links Heads to Washington, D.C.,” Shawn Hubler and Alan Feuer, New York Times
“Many Of The Groups Behind Jan. 6 Are Now Organizing U.S. Trucker Convoys,” Jesselyn Cook, HuffPost
“‘Be as Disruptive as They Can’: What to Know About the Trucker Convoys’ Plans for DC,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian
“Trucker Protest Convoy’s Grievances Include Streets Named for Biden,” Margaret Hartmann, New York Magazine
Updates:
“Republicans who opposed racial justice protests hope truckers ‘clog up’ US cities,” Sergio Olmos, The Guardian
“‘Don Quixote-like quest’: Ukraine attack and easing Covid mandates leave US trucker protest on the fringe,” Sergio Olmos, The Guardian
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Meeting in Salt Lake City on Friday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) passed a resolution declaring that the actions of the Insurrection of January 6, 2021, including the violent attempt to overthrow the elected government of the United States and the defilement of the Capitol building, were “legitimate political discourse.” The resolution (co-authored by Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel) was passed by voice vote, without debate, so individual Republican leaders could avoid personal (and legal) responsibility for this outrage against two centuries of American democratic values. They’re not just fascists, they’re weasels.
More:
“Republican party calls January 6 attack ‘legitimate political discourse,’” Martin Pengelly, The Guardian
“GOP leaders approve resolution that says Jan. 6 was ‘legitimate political discourse,’” Bryan Schott, Salt Lake City Tribune
“G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse,’” Jonathan Weisman and Reid J. Epstein, New York Times
Updates:
“Murkowski criticizes RNC calling Jan. 6 attack ‘legitimate political discourse,'” Caroline Vakil,The Hill
“‘Legitimate Political Discourse’ Is Now an Official Republican Party Description of the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol,” Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone
“McConnell rebukes RNC, calls Jan. 6 ‘violent insurrection,'” Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
“‘Legitimate political discourse’: Three words about Jan. 6 spark rift among Republicans,” Josh Dawsey and Felicia Sonmez, Washington Post
“McConnell breaks with RNC: Jan. 6 ‘violent insurrection,'” Jordain Carney, The Hill
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DC’s NFL team shed its long-held racist name and adopted a place-holder generic name, Washington Football Team, in July 2020. It announced a new permanent name today, February 2nd, suggesting the team would be called the Washington Groundhogs. Alas, the new name is the Washington Commanders.
It’s not “Commandos,” since NFL players really should wear undies. It could have been Salamanders, since the mediocre team is owned by lizardman Dan Snyder, but no. The new logo seems to be a sort of stenciled W, since the Nats already have the cool curly one. There’s also some sort of goofy crest.
Anyway, football fans in the DC area have seven months, until the start of the 2022 season, to practice saying “How ’bout them ‘Mandos?” Probably while shaking their heads.
More:
“Washington Football Team announces Commanders as new NFL nickname,” Steve Gardner, USA Today
“Like It Or Not, the Washington Commanders Are Officially Here,” Kelyn Soong, Washington City Paper
“Washington Has A New NFL Team Name: The Commanders,” Elliot C. Williams, DCist
“Washington Commanders Is an Appropriately Boring Name,” Benjamin Hart, New York Magazine
“The Commanders name lands ‘with a thud’ for some Washington fans,” Andrew Golden, Washington Post
Updates:
“Experts Aren’t Wowed by New Commanders Branding,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian
“On Capitol Hill, ex-Washington NFL employees levy new harassment claims against Daniel Snyder,” Liz Clarke, Washington Post
“The Best (and Worst) Reactions to the Washington Football Team’s New Name,” Lauren Mccaffrey and Anna Spiegel, Washingtonian
“The Rebrand Is the Least Bad Thing About the Washington Commanders,” Matt Terl, Washington City Paper
Related:
“Washington Commanders investigating sexual harassment allegation against owner,” Chloe Folmar, The Hill
“NFL says it will control investigation into Commanders owner Dan Snyder, not the team,” Jonathan Franklin, NPR News
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Thousands of disgruntled and unvaccinated citizens descended on Washington DC last Sunday to defend their right to infect fellow Amercans with the COVID-19 virus. Anti-vaccine protesters and other members of the pro-death movement included the usual quacks and wingnuts, but also their strange bedfellow Robert Kennedy Jr., who compared vaccine mandates to Dr. Mengeles’ experiments at Auschwitz.
The District of Columbia has vaccine and mask mandates for indoor dining, so naturally the wrathful anti-vax throngs took their anger out on DC’s restaurant waitstaff.
Update:
“RFK Jr. apologizes after condemnation for Anne Frank comment,” Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press
More:
“Thousands march on Washington, D.C., in rally against vaccine mandates,” Daniel Uria, UPI
“Anti-vaccine activists march in D.C. — a city that mandates coronavirus vaccination — to protest mandates,” Katie Mettler, Lizzie Johnson, Justin Wm. Moyer, et al., Washington Post
“Anti-Vaccine Mandate Rally Draws Misinformation, RFK Jr., and Comparisons to Nazi Germany,” Eli Weiner, Washington City Paper
“‘Defeat The Mandates’ Rally Against Covid-19 Precautions Held During Omicron Surge,” Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes
Related:
“5 Republican Politicians Freaking Out About DC’s Vaccine Mandates,” Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian
“Omicron Cases Appear to Peak in U.S., but Deaths Continue to Rise,” Mitch Smith, Julie Bosman and Tracey Tully, New York Times
“The Anti-vaccine Right Brought Human Sacrifice to America,” Kurt Andersen, The Atlantic
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DC’s NFL team, having shed its long-held racist name and become the generic Washington Football Team, will announce its new name on February 2nd, which suggests the team will be know as the Washington Groundhogs.
Other name candidates include the Commanders, Admirals, Armada, Brigade, Sentinels, Defenders, Red Hogs, Presidents and “Washington Football Team.” If only they could replace Dan Snyder with a generic “Washington Football Team Owner.”
Related:
“Washington Football Team Awaits a New Name, But the Mediocrity Remains,” Matt Terl, Washington City Paper
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