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A blogger at Maine Refounders has taken it upon himself to offer repost a DC visitors guide to anyone coming to the Rally For Glenn Beck’s Material Wealth, scheduled for August 28th. So, if you want some not-half bad restaurant recommendations or are interested in learning how you can avoid Nancy Pelosi’s house, get thee hence. That said, I find this take on the DC Metro system to be sort of comical:

If you are on the subway stay on the Red line between Union Station and Shady Grove, Maryland. If you are on the Blue or Orange line do not go past Eastern Market (Capitol Hill) toward the Potomac Avenue stop and beyond; stay in NW DC and points in Virginia. Do not use the Green line or the Yellow line. These rules are even more important at night. There is of course nothing wrong with many other areas; but you don’t know where you are, so you should not explore them.

As someone who rides the Green and Yellow Lines all the time, I can assure you that there are no “rules” that state these subway lines must be avoided at all times, especially at night. But then, I guess I’m not using “A Cliche-Ridden Guide To Avoiding The Black People On The Subway In Washington” as a rulebook. Ironically, one needs to ride the Green/Yellow line in order to visit the National Archives, where the Constitution of the United States is housed. (Not that these rally attendees have any particular reverence for that document.)

Look, Glenn Beck rally attendees, if there’s one essential piece of information you need to know, it is this: DO NOT STAND TO THE LEFT ON THE ESCALATORS UNLESS YOU ENJOY BEING MOCKED AND ABUSED. Just remember to stand to the right on the escalators, and your visit will be more than pleasant.

(Also, attendees should read this as an Essential Guide To Terms People In DC Do Not Actually Use. Not afraid to be servicey!)

UPDATE: DCist provides the essential Google Map, revealing the tiny sliver of Washington, DC deemed fit to visit. I’d point out that where I live — Arlington County — is generally very safe and hospitable to visitors. The problem for rally attendees is that it’s also packed stem to stern with progressives! (Cower in the shadows of the Mercatus Center, I guess?)

Five inmates at Folsom prison in California have shot been shot by guards during a riot, authorities say.
None of the prisoners' injuries is believed to be life threatening, prison spokesman Luis Patino said.
The riot, involving about 200 inmates, broke out on Friday night. No guards were injured, reports said.
Three of the wounded inmates were reportedly taken to local hospitals, while two others were treated at the medium-security prison.

Source:BBC

Share this page Elizabeth Hawley, unrivalled Himalayan record keeper In a modest flat in central Kathmandu, a diminutive 86-year-old American journalist operates the Himalayan Database – the nearest thing to an official record of climbs made in the mountains of Nepal.
If a mountaineer wants worldwide recognition that they have reached the summit of some of the most formidable mountains in the world, they will need to get the approval of Elizabeth Hawley.
Part investigator, part librarian, she has been documenting Himalayan climbs since 1963 and has the reputation of being a formidable, sharp-tongued judge.
“I don't mean to frighten people, but maybe I've acquired this aura of being the arbitrator,” she says.
“It might scare them into telling me the truth and that might be useful.”
Born in 1923 and educated at the University of Michigan, Elizabeth Hawley has been living in Kathmandu since 1960.
She was inspired to move to the Himalayan nation after giving up her job as a researcher for Fortune magazine in New York and visiting Kathmandu on a round-the-world trip.
At that time Nepal had only just opened up to international tourists and was taking its first steps towards democracy, after being a closed country for centuries.
Working briefly as a reporter in Kathmandu for a turbulent few months, Miss Hawley went back to 1950s San Francisco – but not for long – returning to Nepal a few years later as journalist for Time. She has lived in the same flat ever since.At that time Nepalese women were rarely seen in public and a single, foreign woman in her thirties living alone in Kathmandu was regarded as a curiosity.
She found work with the Reuters news agency covering mountaineering news, including the 1963 American expedition that was the first from the US to traverse Mount Everest.
Her close relationship with the US Embassy meant that she could listen to radio dispatches from the climbers, and she was the first to file when they reached the summit.
Over the following years, Elizabeth Hawley reported on all the major Himalayan expeditions, finally taking on the role as the Reuters mountaineering correspondent.
For many years, until this week, she was also New Zealand's honorary consul in Nepal.
She developed close friendships with many of the climbers, including Sir Edmund Hillary and the Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner.
“I watched that man change,” she says of Mr Messner, who was the first climber to scale all 14 peaks over 8,000m.
“He started off a country bumpkin, then slowly over the next few years, he styled his hair. His clothes got more hip and cool.”
The two remain close friends to this day.
Although she has never climbed a mountain in her life, Miss Hawley says her relationships with climbers have helped her understand what motivates them to keep coming back.

Share this page Daughter of US ambassador to Thailand dies in NYC fall The 17-year-old daughter of the US ambassador to Thailand has died after falling from the top floor of a 25-storey building in New York City.
Police said Nicole John was believed to have been drinking at a party on Friday in Manhattan when she removed her shoes and climbed out onto a window ledge.
She is believed to have been trying to take a photograph before falling to her death at about 0415 (0815 GMT).
Her father, Eric John, was appointed US ambassador to Thailand in 2007.
Ilan Nassimi, who rents the apartment where the party took place, was arrested later on charges of giving alcohol to a minor.
Police said Ms John, who was beginning her first year at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, had been out earlier with friends at Tenjune, a club on the west side of Manhattan.
The group then moved to Mr Nassimi's apartment at Herald Towers, an apartment block near the Empire State Building, around 0200 on Friday morning.
Ms John, a graduate of the International School in Bangkok, had a fake identification card that listed her age as 23 or 24.
Mr Nassimi is now awaiting charges from a Manhattan court.

Source:BBC

“The economic opportunities that are here, the educational opportunities, the political culture of this city (Houston) that says have some initiative and we'll get behind you. It's caused many to rise to the occasion and has brought the best out of many,” he says.
“This experience of making the transition from New Orleans to Houston has been challenging but it has been most rewarding at the same time.”
Robert Blakes has become something of a flying pastor, tending to a flock that straddle both cities.
Each weekend he flies to New Orleans to preach at an early morning Sunday service before flying back to Houston for a mid-morning service.
The sacrifice would be worth it, he says, as he expects his former home to benefit from the access to a better quality of life that young New Orleanians, in particular, can access in Houston.
“I believe that many of them will probably return to the city of New Orleans to lead in the business arena, in the political arena,” he says.
“So I believe the greatest impact is probably 15-20 years down the road.”
The future may be bright – but the present seems a bit dull, for some at least.
On Angel Way, a street in south Houston, built for Katrina evacuees with the help of Oprah Winfrey, a group of young girls bemoan everyday life in Houston.
“We miss fun things, the music, the crawfish, the seafood, parades – we don't have those things down here. It's easier to have fun in New Orleans.”
That sense that the fun is back home partly explains why Lumar Le Blanc was marching through New Orleans with his Soul Rebels Brass Band on a recent sticky evening.
Lumar – a drummer, and trumpeter Marcus Hubbard – drive the 12-hour round trip from their homes in Houston each week – just to play a gig in New Orleans.
“We love Houston because it's offered us some consolation after our homes were destroyed. I feel I have the best of both worlds,” says Lumar.
“I always feel this is home, New Orleans. I'm bred here, I play its music, I eat its food, I live its people. We'll always be New Orleanians, until the day we die.” Are you in New Orleans? Do you have pictures of the damage post-Katrina and the rebuilding undertaken since? Send your pictures and videos to yourpics or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can .At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. If you wish to remain anonymous, please say so in the box. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.

Source:BBC

A Somali man has admitted attacking a US warship in April after mistaking it for a merchant vessel.
Jama Idle Ibrahim and five others chased the USS Ashland and opened fire on it before being captured, court papers said.
He pleaded guilty to piracy-related charges in Norfolk, Virginia, and faces 30 years in jail. Five other Somalis also face charges over the attack.

Share this page US Justice Department backs United-Continental merger A merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines has been given the go-ahead by the US Justice Department.
An anti-competition probe ended after the firms agreed to give up some slots at Newark airport hub to low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines.
The move paves the way for the deal, which will create the world's biggest carrier, to go ahead.
The combined group will use the current Continental colours with the United Airlines name.
When the proposed merger was announced in May, the loss-making companies said they expected the deal, worth 3.2bn (2.1bn), to deliver savings of more than 1bn a year.
Together United and Continental currently fly to 370 destinations worldwide, flying 144 million passengers a year.
Combining the two companies will create the world's biggest airline, based on the total number of passenger-miles flown.
Continental's boss Jeff Smisek will be chief executive of the new company based in Chicago, while United Airlines' Glenn Tilton will serve as the non-executive chairman.
The United-Continental merger still has be approved by shareholders, who will vote next month.

Source:BBC