How This Shutdown Might Affect Your Trip to DC

photo uploaded to flickr by Simon CocksYou've probably heard a far bit about the budget jostling on Capitol Hill recently. Now I imagine most of you don't hang out in bars where C-SPAN is on round the clock, so you may not be totally up on all the ins and outs, but there's a very real chance that by the close of buisness March 4th, the Federal Government will be operating without a budget.

To grossly oversimplify the issue, the Federal Government authorizes and appropriates funds on a yearly budget. Once that budget runs out at the end of the Fiscal Year (Sept 30), Congress and the President can approve a temporary extension, or Continuing Resolution (CR). This is what the Government has been operating under since October, and the current one runs out March 4th. On that day, thanks to Art. I, Section 9 of the US Constitution (look it up yoursefl!) and the Anti-deficiency Act, it is now illegal for the Federal Government to pay its workers, outside of essential folks. The Congressional Research Service recently wrote an excellent report (.pdf) if you're a government affairs junky.

Click to read more ...

A Local Lens - February

A monthly series by E. David Luria, Founder & Director of the Washington Photo Safari

National Building Museum

The National Building Museum holds a very special place in the heart of the Washington Photo Safari as it celebrates architecture and the built environment which is how I made my foray into professional photography. Originally known as the Pension Building when it was constructed in the 1880's to provide ample office space for clerks writing out pension checks to Civil War veterans, it is now known as the National Building Museum. It’s certainly a hidden treasure off the beaten path of the National Mall but nevertheless situated conveniently near the city center at Judiciary Square metro.  What looks like a bunch of columns and archways gives way to an interactive exploration of how we design, build, use, are inspired by and interact with our concrete brethren. 

Click to read more ...

Arlington National Cemetery - A Literary Tour?

Pulitzer winner Kennedy - uploaded to flickr by leonArlington is well known as the final resting ground of America's heroes, Presidents,  and military greats, but it's rarely thought of as a literary destination. However, amongst its 300,000+ permanent residents, surely one or two would able to turn a phrase, right? Let's take a look at a few:

Click to read more ...

America I AM: New Exhibit at National Geographic

One of the ironies of telling the African American experience today is that is hardly an under-told story. The same exhbit that would have groundbreaking, and maybe even contoversial, in 1981 treads a well worn path in 2011. Once routinely marginalized and white washed out of the story; historians and museum curators have taken to re-examining these stories with vigor. Today, there's no shortage of museums, in Washington, DC and elsewhere, hosting exhibits and contributing to the discussion of African-American history and culture.

So the National Geographic Museum faces a unique challenge hosting it's new exhibit America I AM: The African American Imprint. How do you tell this story in a way that has relevance to today's generation in a way that avoids the whole "oh, it's February again, we have to talk about Black people" trap?

It's a challenge, and America I AM largely rises to it. The exhibit is a comprehensive and well documented look at the African American experience in our country, with a particular focus on how that experience interplays with larger society as a whole. From it's roots in the slave trade, to the election of our first African American President, America I AM details the unique, separate, and largely unequal experience of the only large group of Americans who didn't choose to come here.

Click to read more ...

A Local Lens - January

A monthly series by E. David Luria, Founder & Director of the Washington Photo Safari

Willard Hotel

Called by many “the residence of presidents” since nearly every president since Franklin Pierce has either stayed there or attended an event there, the Willard Hotel on 14th Street and Constitution Ave NW is one of Washington’s most stately and historically rich hotels. 

A staging ground for peace and freedom, the Willard was the site of the Peace Congress in 1861, a last ditch effort to avert the Civil War; a mere 100 years later, in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his I Have a Dream speech at the hotel before delivering it on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Moreover, it is said that the term “lobbyist” was coined here because of solicitors seeking favors from President Grant while he enjoyed his brandy and cigar in the hotel lobby.

Click to read more ...