I'm delighted to announce the launch of our latest local section, HuffPost DC.
Of course, Washington, D.C. is very familiar territory for HuffPost -- and for me. I lived there for a few years in the early 90s; it was where my daughters started kindergarten, and where I first started writing a political column. D.C. was also home to HuffPost's first office outside of our bases in New York and Los Angeles; it was actually one room that we got for free (we couldn't afford rent yet) after I called David Bradley, the publisher of the Atlantic, and begged for some free space in one of his buildings that was in the process of being renovated (Sam Stein, our first reporter, and I often fondly reminisce about our humble beginnings). Our D.C.-based Politics team has grown dramatically since those early days and has been breaking news both on substantive issues and manufactured crises, and providing witty, insider-y chatter with HuffPost Hill.
I was last in D.C. for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It was an occasion that reminded us once again both of the progress that has been made since King's historic March on Washington 48 years ago and of how far we still have to go in realizing his dream, especially in our nation's capital. Indeed, at its heart, Washington, D.C. offers a tale of two cities. And it is this tale that animates our new section.
When we look at Washington -- really look at it, beyond the grand city of popular imagination -- we see a city of incredible contrasts.
On one side is the glitz of official Washington -- the D.C. of formal state dinners and big money fundraisers.
On the other side is a city with close to 11 percent unemployment -- a number that more than doubles in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. A city experiencing the dislocation of African Americans in historically black neighborhoods. A city where, as HuffPost's Arin Greenwood shows, the dismal economy is even forcing many pet owners to abandon their pets. Often lost in the swirl of D.C. politics are communities that grapple daily with poverty and the lasting effects of discrimination and segregation, paying the price for D.C.'s distorted public image that omits huge numbers of the city's residents, with sometimes tragic consequences.
At the same time, amidst the suffering and the struggle, there is an inspiring D.C. story, made possible by people like Nardyne Jefferies, who has dedicated herself to preventing youth violence after losing her own child in a violent crime; or like Adam Clampitt, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan turning the spotlight on the unemployment and homelessness facing his fellow vets. Then there is a restaurant group bringing affordable, quality produce to Anacostia and other underserved communities; and Martha's Table, a remarkable D.C. charity that assists students who graduate from the city's embattled public schools.
With a combination of original reporting, comprehensive curation, and a group blog that will function as a virtual public square for the city's diverse voices, HuffPost DC will cover both sides of this dynamic yet divided city and allow our reporters and bloggers to stay on the local and regional stories that matter most to Washingtonians and their neighbors.
HuffPost DC will also offer comprehensive local coverage of the glittering aspects of life in our nation's capital -- from fundraisers, food, and fashion to sports, business, culture, and real estate. And to ensure the most comprehensive coverage of stories of regional interest, the HuffPost DC team will be showcasing stories from the surrounding Patches in Maryland and Virginia.
Like all our sections, HuffPost DC features a group blog, where some of the city's most compelling voices -- well-known and unknown -- will weigh in on the issues and ideas, both big and small, they're most passionate about. Be sure to check out our launch day blog posts by D.C. city council member David Catania, on youth violence; Patricia A. McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University, on the socioeconomic divide in D.C.; and a video blog post on the local arts scene from Philippa Hughes, D.C. arts patron and founder of The Pink Line Project.
HuffPost DC is edited by Michael Grass, who has deep roots in Washington (his grandfather grew up just a few blocks from HuffPost's D.C. office). Michael was the co-founder of the DCist news blog, and has logged time at Roll Call, the Washington Post's Express newspaper, and the Washington City Paper.
So please join me in welcoming D.C. to the growing HuffPost family. As always, your participation is central to what we do, so please use the comment section on this post to let us know what you think.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
Joseph A. Palermo: A President Standing in Quicksand
Ms. Romer, the book says, once passed a note to Mr. Summers threatening to walk out of a dinner with Mr. Obama and outside economists after the president polled his guests for their recommendations but failed to recognize her.
This is no surprise after how O treated Hillary.
Shouldn’t that be A Tale of Two Realities? But hey, AC, DC. Power itself is a broad church. All that’s needed is a minor rewire. So that the people speak direct instruction unto it.
white government buildings on top. It has never escaped its character as a mirror and in some
ways epitome of the class distinctions in America. I was there, mesmerized, as a 13 year old, free to explore the mall to my heart's content. I watched Supreme court justices go up those grand and fancy steps. All that Greek stuff, everything pristine and borrowed. In 1953. To seal the fate of the Rosenbergs. I have never been back.
But that may explain the LA page going down the tubes. Slow and no updates, coverage skewed from politics to gossip.
btw/ Ever consider changing the page to something more reflective, like Southern California? SoCal?
Most people in SoCal never pay the City of Los Angeles a visit, nor have anything to do with it.
LA is a very small and increasingly insignificant part of SoCal.
SoCal on the other hand encompasses cities from Malibu to San Berdoo, Ventura to San Onofre, Santa Clarita to Palos Verdes and Beverly Hills.
None of those cities are in Los Angeles.
I may have something for you over time. Let's check out one another's agendas.
Tell me more about how you would use what I have. I am not on Facebook or Twitter and don't intend to be if that is where you would send me for more info. Almost never do interviews except for one the reporter twisted my arm to do that I liked in the Frederick News Post, link below.
http://anastasiastoryteller.blogspot.com/p/history.html
Currently doing a study on who is "walking the walk" within a 100 mile radius of the WH. (The Study of The Possible Human In The Possible Society). 400 people to be interviewed within the next 40 months for study going like a fast moving hurricane.
http://zonesofpeacenh.blogspot.com/p/possible-human-study-description.html
Also you can check out "We Came For Camelot" postings related to one of my mss in progress
http://anastasiastoryteller.blogspot.com/search/label/Camelot
And, also one of my more than "famous for fifteen minutes" stories at
http://anastasiastoryteller.blogspot.com/p/history.html
Anastasia
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/09/financial-markets
Why are US taxpayers being exposed to potential risk to rescue a bunch of goofs who can't agree to do what's needed to rescue themselves? The US has gone to Europe repeatedly, and paid in blood and treasure, to rescue Western democracy, and then to defend it against Communist expansion. And we continue to get suckered into European shenanigans like Libya. So why place even one American child's future at risk with a rescue effort for Europe when we could use a rescue effort for America?
The same arguments were made with TARP and the other bailouts, and the only result has been some invisible benefit for the US taxpayer.
Thank goodness information doesn't travel faster than a horse or ship, or else the rest of the world might get a glimpse of the conditions most Americans live under.
If we can just keep flourishing off the oppression of the poor and the persecution of the native population, no doubt once our wonderful nation reaches the Pacific Ocean things will be better for all involved.
Progress cannot be halted once the American people have made up their minds...and voted in the same old liars who will continue to sell them out to the wealthy for pennies on the dollar and the appearance of significance.
American politics are not meant to make life easy for some, but easier for everyone.
If it doesn't require honest, hard work, it doesn’t belong in this country.
Yet these lands were stolen and so too was the slave labor our initial wealth was built upon. So is it any wonder our leaders lie for a living and big business is nothing more than theft made legal by, well, the liars who lead us?
How can we obtain change, let alone self-respect as a nation, if we do not change the basic mentality of our public and private leaders?
But by all means, America, keep hoping to led into a better future by people who only care about what they can get from you.