American Enterprise Institute event

Left, Right & Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics

On Friday after our trip to the Washington Post, several of us went to an event sponsored by AEI. This luncheon discussed the role of faith in politics, and addressed the topic with two speakers who held vastly different opinions . The speakers were: D.C Innes, a Professor at King's College and Lisa Sharon Harper, a director at Sojourners.They each spoke and offered their opinions on the role that religion and evangelicalism should play within politics. Once they finished there was a brief Q&A session followed by a delicious lunch of Salmon and salad. It was a great experience and those of us who went learned a lot, and of course appreciated the free lunch!

Washington Post

Friday October 28th our group went to the Washington Post. We were taken on a tour and got to see several different departments and areas. We were also able to see where the live interviews take place and got to speak briefly with several employees, which gave us insight into the work that goes on to produce the newspaper. After our tour, we met with Lori
Montgomery, a reporter who covers U.S economic policy, the Federal budget and more recently debt. We had a Q&A session with her, where we were able to get her perspective on our current economic situation while also learning more about the "Super committee." Our group was very interactive and had great questions, and it was great to get her "insider" perspective .

Ben Bradlee

That was Ben Bradlee who walked past us in the lobby of The Washington Post today.  In my opinion, Bradlee was the most important newspaper editor of the late 20th century.  As Executive Editor, he (on the right) supervised Bob Woodward (left) and Carl Bernstein (center) when they wrote the slowly evolving series of articles on the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and won a Pulitzer Prize.  Bradlee's role was crucial: he pushed "Woodstein" (that's what he called Woodward and Bernstein) to tighten their reporting and write better stories, then he backed them up when doubts emerged about their investigation.  Bradlee, Woodward and Bernstein were the only three people who knew the identity of the story's most important source, "Deep Throat" -- the most famous anonymous source in the history of modern journalism -- until former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt outed himself in 2005.

If you're interested, I highly recommend reading Bradlee's memoir, A Good Life.  For more on Watergate, you can't beat All the President's Men -- either the original book by Woodward and Bernstein and/or the movie, which stars Robert Redford (Woodward), Dustin Hoffman (Bernstein) and Jason Robards (Bradlee).  I think Robards won an Oscar for his portrayal of Bradlee. 

Upcoming Events 10/27-10/31

1.Halloween Bar/Pub Crawl
-http://canights.com/event/district-of-columbia/the-bier-baron-tavern/1029-halloweekend-pub-crawl-washington-dc
-http://www.bierbarondc.com/
-Starting at Bier Baron (1523 22nd St. NW Washington, DC) in Dupont Circle
-Register on 10/29 between 12pm to 7pm


2. Are You a Pumpkin Fan?
-Check out these pumpkin-themed events including pumpkin carvings and tastings of Pumpkin flavored drinks and food.
-http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/best-bets/pumpkin-events,99007.html


3. Story League Halloween Mini-Show and Mixer
-Washington writers, poets, comics and Average Joes tell true first-person stories about Halloween. Stop by to hear an hour of Halloween-related stories, then hang around for a meet-and-greet fueled by $5 Absolut cocktails. Because of the theme, costumes are encouraged, but not required.
-At Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. NW Washington, DC)
-7 p.m. Thursday, 10/ 27


4. Nightmare on M Street Bar Crawl
-The 12th annual Nightmare on M Street is the biggest one yet, with 17 bars offering $2 Coors Light, $3 Blue Moon, $4 Bacardi drinks and other food and drink deals. Register between 5 and 10 at McFadden's, the Front Page or Mackey's, then get crawling. Among the participants: Public Bar, Sign of the Whale, the Madhatter, BlackFinn, the Mighty Pint, James Hoban's and Dirty Martini.
-Starting at McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon (2401 Pennstlvania Ave. NW)
-5:00 pm-1:00 am Saturday, 10/29
-$17.50 in advance; more at the door.


5. Town Tavern Halloween Party
-Saturday, 10/29
-Town Tavern's party starts with an optional $10 open bar from 8 to 10. Stick around for a costume contest, where $100 prizes will go to the "sexiest, funniest, and most creative costumes."

6. Want a Falafel Sandwich at Amsterdam Falafelshop (in Adams Morgan) for $1?

-Coupon here: https://sowhatsthedeal.com/promotions/1-falafel-sanwich-amsterdam-falafel?utm_source=freeindc&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=freeindc_post

Intern Spotlight: Shauna Plesmid

SHAUNA PLESMID

Shauna is the online communications intern at Campus Progress, a division of Center for American Progress. She fits in perfectly with her office's very interactive atmosphere. Shauna has a wide array of duties and tasks that keep her very busy. She gets to attend and do the photography for many events within the D.C area. Several of her pictures can be seen on the organization's website. Shauna is one of only three people at Campus progress who has complete unrestricted access to the behind the scenes working of their website. This access has allowed her work to become extremely popular and widely viewed. One picture in particular, from her coverage of occupy DC,currently has the 2nd most views of any picture on the site. In addition to photography, Shauna is also able to contribute to and edit the website's graphics all while sitting on a "bouncy-ball" at her desk! Shauna is doing extremely impressive work and if you would like to see a little of what she has done, check out this link :
http://campusprogress.org/articles/the_best_occupy_sign_weve_seen_yet/

Les Misérables

Our group was fortunate enough to see Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center on October 13th. Les Misérables is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century. The well known tragic tale chronicles the lives and interactions of several French characters over a 17 year period. The Kennedy Center performance was a "new 25th anniversary production of Boublil and Schönberg's legendary musical" which featured new staging and spectacularly re imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. Les Misérables is the longest running musical in the world and includes the widely famous songs; "I dreamed a dream" and "one more day," just to name a few.The story of Jean Valjean was wonderfully preformed and was quite an experience for all of us--whether we knew the story line or were being exposed to it for the first time.

Upcoming Events 10/20-10/23

1. DC Record Fair!
-The Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd in Arlington), 10/23, 11:00am early admission - $5 Fair, 12:00pm - 5:00pm - $2
-Vendors from up and down the East Coast augmented by guest DJs. Brought to you by Som Records, DC Soul Recording, and The Vinyl District.
-http://www.culturecapital.com/event.php?id=16603

2. The 2011 Human Rights Film Series
-At American University, 10/20, 5:30-8pm, Free
-Film screening of Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness followed by discussion
-http://www.american.edu/provost/human-rights/film-series/2011.cfm

3. Wale Concert
-10/22, 7pm, At Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD (8656 Colesville Road)
-$23, http://fillmoresilverspring.com/index

4. A Fall Dining Guide
-From food critic, Tom Sietsema, of 40 of D.C.'s best restaurants.
-http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/dining-guide-tom-sietsema-fall-2011.html

Rent a bike?

Have you seen the red bikes?  They're rentals.  Capital Bikeshare launched about a year ago and now the red bikes are ubiquitous.  $5 gets you a membership 24 hours and the first 30 minutes are free.  There are stations at Woodley Park, Cleveland Park and about a hundred other places.  I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like a great system.  More info: http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/

Upcoming Events 10/13-16

Truckapalooza at GWU

1. Over 20 food trucks lined up on GWU campus between 20th&21st Street NW




2. 10/14, 11:00am - 2:00pm, Free but you'll want to bring cash for food




3. Metro: Foggy Bottom or you can walk from Farragut West or North

Capitols Kick-off Party

1. Come join the kickoff party for the Washington Capitals 1st away game and recieve two free beers (Shocktop or Bud Light)




2. 10/13, 6-8pm, 19th Bar (1900 I St NW)




3. Giveaways include an autographed jersey and stick as well as game tickets




4. RSVP here: http://sowhatsthedeal.com/events/95?utm_source=freeindc&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=freeindc_post

Taste of Georgetown

1. Event will feature more than 60 dishes from 30 restaurants to sample, a fun new "Pumpkin Food Fight" restaurant competition, Washington CityPaper Wine, an Ale & Spirits Pavilion, and the jazz talents of Blues Alley.




2. Tickets are $5 for one tasting and $20 for five tastings, with proceeds benefitting the Georgetown Ministry Center's services supporting the homeless.




3. 10/15, 11am-4pm, Wisconsin Avenue, NW between M & K Streets




4. http://www.tasteofgeorgetown.com/

JMU Alumni Career Panel!

Today four JMU alumni (Martene Bryan- federal government, Brian James- industry association, Cindy Pendleton- national security, and Jason Pitt- non-profit organization) came to speak about life after JMU. They talked about everything from their transition to finding jobs in Washington, D.C., to what to expect after you finally hear back from a job and you're asked to do an interview. The class participated in a question and answer session for about an hour, asking general questions about when to start applying for jobs, what to do about finding a place to live in D.C., and how to best spend your time both before and after graduation taking advantage of certain opportunities in order to position yourself for that dream job.

After the first hour, the class broke off into four groups, each with one alumni where we were able to have personal one-on-one conversations about our own specific plans and situations post-JMU. The alumni also read over resumes, giving tips and advice on how to revise them overall, and how we might tailor them to each job we apply to so we can play up our past experiences in a way that would resonate better with the skills needed for the job we'd like to have. In addition, all of the alums expressed an interest in helping us in any way they could regarding finding jobs in the future, or even just to meet up for coffee. It's so great to know that the bond of being a Duke still continues long after graduation! Go Dukes!

Shakespeare Theatre Company Presents: Fela!

On September 22 we went to see Fela!, a musical presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company that was full of energy, vibrant colors and plenty of interaction between audience members and the cast. Fela! is based on the life experiences of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. He was one of the hottest musicians in Nigeria during the late 1970s. His travels around the world and experiences with constant oppressive armies within his country inspired Fela to use his music as political warfare in order to bring freedom to the people of Nigeria. Overall, it was a great night full of constant laughter and moments of deep reflection on past events that have helped to shape the future.

Intern Spotlight: Brian McCraw

BRIAN McCRAW

Brian is currently interning at the Human Rights Campaign, the largest civil rights organization dealing with and advocating on behalf of LGBT issues. Brian works in the Field/grassroots department where he spends a lot of time researching and making calls. He is also in charge of coordinating a weekly phone bank where he and his fellow interns make an effort to recruit volunteers while encouraging people to support their efforts. Brian was fortunate enough to attend and be a part of the HRC National Dinner last week. He had the privilege of escorting one of the most significant figures in the American Gay Rights Movement,Frank Kameny, and was able to witness President Obama's keynote speech. Brian seems to really be enjoying himself at his internship and his enthusiasm is contagious. I look forward to hearing more abut his experience throughout the semester!

More Supreme Court Pictures!

Supreme Court visit!!!!

On Friday September 16th our group took a trip to the Supreme Court. It was an extremely exciting outing! We first got to sit where the oral arguments are heard and got a brief description of the room's decor and also a quick run-down of the day to day operations of the court. We were told that oral arguments are open to the public, and that if one is willing to wait, that getting in can be relatively easy! (I know I am willing to camp out overnight to get a glimpse of the justices!!)We were then fortunate enough to speak with the Supreme Court Clerk William Suter who gave us even more information about the inner-workings of the court. He also advised us to take on leaderships roles whenever possible in order to stand out when applying for future jobs and internships.He also described the internship opportunities that the Supreme Court offers and how we could go about applying for them. Finally, we spoke with Antonin Scalia'a Law clerks. These clerk positions are extremely prestigious and just speaking with these individuals was a privilege. They shared with us their personal paths that led them to their spots at the Supreme Court and then opened for a question and answer session. This trip was a wonderful opportunity for our class to experience a historic D.C institution while learning a great deal!

Upcoming Events 10/3-10/10

1. NASA/Art: 50 Years of Exploration Art Show

• National Air and Space Museum, 4th Street and Independence Avenue SW


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  Ongoing until Oct. 9, 10am-5:30pm daily


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  Free, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/arts/NASA-Art-Covers-50-Years-of-Space-Exploration-123746134.html

2. Annual Taste of D.C. Weekend

• Started in 2003, the region's largest and most anticipated food, wine, beer and cultural festival is back with over 60 vendors this year.


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  10/8: 11-10pm, 10/9: 10-10pm, 10/10: 10-6pm


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  Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 14th Streets


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  Free admission, tasting tickets are 10 for $15 or 20 for $25


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  Check out the full list of restaurants/bands and reserve tickets: http://www.thetasteofdc.org/

3. Downtown Scene Film Series

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  Final film of the series 10/9: "Downtown 81" followed by Q&A with Maripol and Mike Holman


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  Corcoran Gallery of Art (500 17th Street NW), 3:30pm, Free


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  www.downtownscene-film.com/

4. Various restaurants/bars for College gamedays and NFL games

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  Check out where to watch your favorite team play and score food/drink specials alongside other fans: www.washingtonpost.com/gog/best-bets/where-where-to-watch-college-and-nfl-football,81745.html

5. Stella Artois US Draught Master Championship

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  Part of the World Draught Masters competition featuring challengers from over 35 countries trying to pour the perfect Stella Artois through the nine-step pouring ritual.


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  10/7, 9pm-1am at the National Building Museum (401 F Street NW)


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  Free, but must RSVP to Championships@DraughtMasterUSA.com to be confirmed on the guest list.