For Our Own Good

Dear Protectorates:

Two complementary statements of governmental overreaching are, “everything that is not mandated is forbidden” and “everything that is not forbidden is compulsory.” When politicians are unchecked, they will naturally push government to these extremes. As wise and good and certainly well-intentioned lawgivers, they know what it best for us. They know what is in our best interests better than we ourselves do, and for our own good they will pass a few unobtrusive laws that will make our lives healthier and happier. Under these moderate regulations, with their helpful guidance, we will be will better off than if we followed our own idiotic impulses and made our own stupid choices. It is not just their job, it is their mission and their calling to protect us from ourselves.

Bill Steigerwald’s column in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review on May 29 begins (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/columnists/steigerwald/s_338627.html): “Decades ago there was a creepy newspaper comic called ‘There Oughta Be a Law!’ Its entire existence was built around the slightly totalitarian and not very funny idea that there should be a law for every human problem or annoyance. The comic ran until 1963, when its creator, artist Al Fagaly, died. Unfortunately, it seems baby boomers took Fagaly’s exhortations to heart. Today we allegedly free citizens are ensnared by so many federal, state and local laws, regs, codes and ordinances that nobody can keep track of them, much less enforce them fairly or comply with them.”

Today in DC we’re debating a wide range of nanny state laws, all well intentioned and supported by the latest scientific fads, designed to eliminate any potential risk to which we may foolishly wish to subject ourselves. Legislators feel compelled, sometimes at their own volition and sometimes at the urgent behest of well-organized interest groups, to regulate our smoking, drinking, eating declasse fast foods, driving without seat belts, driving with cell phones, playing video games, and numerous other follies. Many of us even appreciate this, or at least appreciate it when it is our own standards, values, and judgments that are being imposed on those who do not share them. Using the force of law relieves us of the burden of having to convince those who disagree with us. But when and where does it ever end? When legislators have “solved” one “problem” by substituting their judgments for ours, isn’t there always another problem on which they can exercise their superior wisdom? A lawmaker’s work is never done.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Just Ignore Them: How to Close Neighborhood Schools in Three Easy Lessons
Susan Ousley, westminster935 att ay oh elle

On Wednesday, two Appropriations Committee senators declared that the solution to DC school problems, including the lack of air conditioning, was to close schools! In case our leaders are puzzled about how to do this, here are three easy steps: 1) pretend that neighborhood schools weren’t designed to include neighborhood playgrounds — in many cases mandated by Congress; 2) Pretend that children with special education needs will disappear permanently from neighborhood schools. Write city plans, like the one for the Convention Center area, that exclude counts of kids who should attend neighborhood schools — but can’t, because services they need are not now available there. (Forget reducing transportation and tuition costs for out-of-boundary and private schools.) 3) Ignore the boomlets, in previously-childless neighborhoods, of toddlers who will need schools. (City planners admit they have no estimates for the littlest kids, like the explosion of tykes playing T-ball in Dupont Circle and romping in the fountain on Westminster Street.)

If you close your eyes, they’re not there!

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More of the Same
Ed Dixon, Georgetown Reservoir, jedxn@erols.com

For those who have been enjoying the fireworks over Ward 3 private school expansions at NCRC and the National Cathedral School, Jack Evans’ Committee on Finance has more in the loop. Sidwell Friends, Edmund Burke, and the Washington International School have asked for almost $65 million in publicly financed bonds to expand their facilities. Bethesda lawyer Richard Newman of the law firm Arent Fox has been lobbying for these latest three deals since the baseball deal was put to bed. If his name sounds familiar, it should, because he helped NCS get out of its costly commercial loans by refinancing with the cheaper bank called the District of Columbia Treasury. Just figure every point shaved off these loans sets aside hundreds of thousands of dollars with which Newman can justify his legal costs. That money in turn can go to the politicians who earnestly explain why supposedly independent private schools need government support. These private schools will bring the total public financing through revenue bonds of private and charter schools by DC since 1998 to almost $350 million. Maybe Jack Evans can find a revenue stream so everyone can go to these $23,000 a year schools. Oh, but I guess if we could all go to these schools then they wouldn’t be private schools.

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On the Road Again and Again
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

After being in Beijing, China, for most of last week representing the National League of Cities, and spending Sunday in Chicago at the US Conference of Mayors, Mayor Williams will leave DC again on Thursday evening for London to participate in the 2005 Urban Land Institute World Cities Forum.

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Another Tenleytown Firehouse?
Ed T Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Like the Tenleytown firehouse did for about two years, the Tenleytown public library on Albemarle and Wisconsin just sits there and rots despite plans and approvals for modernization. Instead of letting it sit idle, why not take advantage of the lull and get developers back in the game? Developers have offered to pay for a complete overhaul of the old Tenleytown library in exchange for the air rights to develop some needed housing units atop the newly built library. The location is ideal for condos or apartments because of the proximity to the Metrobus and Metrorail. Housing on that corner would compliment what has been done to the historically preserved Sears building across the street. Developers have even offered to include parking spaces for library patrons, something the current library lacks.

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Discrimination Suits Filed at WPFW
Thomas Gomez, adjustmentdisorder2000@yahoo.com

The DC Radio Co-op was created by WPFW senior producer Ryme Kakthouda and former Free Speech Radio News producer Josh Chaffin, in conjunction with volunteers from DC Indymedia. In the over two years since its formation, Ms. Kakthouda claims some 350 people have attended one or more of its weekly training classes in audio production for news and public affairs. According to Ms. Kakthouda, more than 120 of those people have gone on to air produced audio not only on WPFW but throughout the small Pacifica network that it is a part of, as well as on NPR and elsewhere. Much of that content has been reposted at DC Indymedia. Over the past weekend Kakthouda, along with freelance producer Tom Gomez, filed complaints with Pacifica executive director Dan Couglin at the foundation’s national board meeting in NYC. The two allege that they are the victims of ongoing discrimination on the basis of their national origins and ethnicity and said they expect more complaints to be filed soon. Several members of the WPFW’s local board of directors have come out openly in support of their allegations, including attorney Thomas Ruffin from the National Conference of Black Lawyers; Norberto Martinez, a staffer with the District Office of Latino Affairs (OLA); and Hakim Takash, a Palestinian national. Specifically, the two producers claim to have been passed over for promotion, or denied the opportunity to apply for jobs for which they were qualified; they further claim to have been targets of a campaign of workplace harassment that disproportionately impacted upon non-black immigrants.

The charges are unusual in that WPFW is a historically black station, owned by the openly left-leaning Pacifica foundation. It’s not the first time that tensions between the different minority groups that form the majority at the networks’ five stations have erupted, however. Since a bitter strike left it in near bankruptcy by the time of its settlement in December 2002, the foundation has been bitterly divided over the role of race and nationality in its operation. Nonetheless, the announcement by the two DC producers to the Pacifica board of their intent to proceed with a EEOC filing, possibly as soon as within the next thirty days, has yet again raised the temperature of that debate. The potential litigation could not have come at a worse time for the beleaguered network which, according to chief financial officer Lonnie Hicks, is already facing a potential loss of operating revenue of 1.5 million should the Corporation for Public Broadcasting not renew that funding, a significant portion of which comes from being an outlet for black and other minority voices. Even without the loss of federal money, Hicks is already predicting what he called :a perfect storm, with revenue expected to remain flat and expenses, many of them unavoidable, expected to grow 1.5 million. The one bright spot in his report was that the last of the settlements and legal debt from the personnel litigation in the aftermath of the ending of the strike had finally been paid.

Dan Coughlin, Pacifica’s executive director, received the producers complaints in New York, this weekend but refused to comment. Ambrose I. Lane, a popular talk show host at WPFW and chair of the foundation’s board, requested copies of the complaints and promised to study them. Other DC board members were less reticent, though none wished to go on record. One echoed station manager Ron Pinchback, saying that the hirings cited in the complaints were temporary, that an open search would be conducted by June of this year, and that WPFW would commit itself to fulfill its obligations as an equal opportunity employer. That wasn’t good enough for former local board member Tom Gomez, one of the two filing these complaints. Mr. Gomez said that such claims have been made before repeatedly by management, which he claimed committed to an open process within ninety days over six months ago. Noting that Ms. Kakthouda is the only staff member not of African descent to hold a salaried position and charging that she is being forced out, he accuses the foundation of racism. At least one board member disagreed, claiming that in fact it was a lack of professionalism and being late with work that has caused a tense relationship among Ms. Kakthouda, station manager Ron Pinchback, and numerous local board members. Mr. Gomez responded that WPFW has given him and Ms. Kakthouda individual awards for their work, and that the DC Co-op was recognized by the national foundation in October with a special resolution commending the project for excellence. He noted that even at this meeting the chair of the local board was forced to cite programming the group created at WPFW as some of the most significant work in news and public affairs done in the past quarter.

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The Post on Metro
Bryce A. Suderow, Streetstories@juno.com

What did all of you think of the Washington Post’s four-part series on Metro last week [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400350.html]?

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Insiders and Outsiders
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

DC residents frequently express concern about “outsiders” — non-DC residents — who are put in positions of setting District policy and determining the District’s future. Over the years, because of our limited home rule and limited ability to govern ourselves, residents have worried about the large numbers of District government employees — especially senior administration officials, teachers, and public safety workers, both fire and police, who work in and implement policy in the District government but who choose not to live in the District. More recently, District residents have increasingly objected on the numerous occasions when the Williams administration has recruited high-level appointees for senior government positions from around the country, and failed to find, reward, and promote DC residents within departments and agencies.

Gary wrote in the themail on June 5 that Mayor Williams had inserted a provision in the FY 2006 Budget Support Act for a million dollars to be spent “educating” citizens about DC voting rights, and on June 8 he wrote that the money had been earmarked by the Executive Office of the Mayor to be awarded as a noncompetitive, sole-source grant to DC Vote. Since he wrote that, several civic leaders, including voting rights activists, have expressed to me their concerns about DC Vote. Of special concern was the fact that Ilir Zherka, DC Vote’s executive director, while advocating voting rights for the District, didn’t himself vote in DC. Zherka has not returned my telephone calls, but DC Vote’s Communications Director, Kevin Kiger, explained that Zherka moved because he decided he couldn’t raise his children in the District. Zherka used to live in DC, was registered to vote here from 1995 to 1999, and did vote here in three elections, the general elections in 1996 and 1998 and a primary in 1998. But he moved to Montgomery County five years ago, and he was a Montgomery County resident when he was appointed to the Executive Director’s position in July 2002.

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Festivals
Ron Leve, TheRon@comcast.net

I heartily agree about the richness of the DC cultural environment. This past Saturday I faced the dilemma of choosing amongst four festival or festival-like events. Two will be over before you could get the word out to people, but one continues for a while and one might make it under the wire. One the main sources is the Mall in the coming months, with jazz at the National Gallery Sculpture garden weekly on Fridays and other events at the Freer and Hirshhorn nearly every week.

A particularly rich series of events, if it’s your taste, is the Washington Early Music Festival: http://www.earlymusicdc.org/index.htm. Another that has just started is the Rock Creek Festival, http://www.rockcreekparish.org or the music office of St. Paul’s Church, 726-2080, ext. 11 or 15. The Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival is coming up in July, but is not on the web yet.

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Seat Belt Laws, Round Three
Mike Livingston, mlivingston@greens.org

James Treworgy poses a false dichotomy: seat belt laws are not intended either to protect motorists or to expand police power, but to protect the public (taxpayers) from the socialized costs of preventable disability and death. When a vehicle collides with something or someone, even if nobody is injured, traffic is disrupted and a costly public safety response is automatically and appropriately deployed (even if just to assess the situation and control traffic). If, in addition, occupants of the vehicle are seriously injured, they will need to be extricated by the fire department; treated by EMS with advanced life support; transported to an emergency room which, under the circumstances, must provide expensive care regardless of the patient’s ability to pay; and perhaps be treated with long-term care and rehabilitation, drawing on the resources of public services for the disabled (injury being much more expensive than death). Society finds it cheaper to pass and enforce seat belt laws than to patch up and rehabilitate unrestrained crash victims.

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Seat Belt Laws/Spying
Gabe Goldberg, gabe at gabegold dot com

James Treworgy and Wenzell Taylor (themail, June 12) seem to oppose seat belt laws because other more dangerous activities aren’t also prohibited, and because tickets for seat belt violations raise money for local governments in addition to motivating people to buckle up. At least this time nobody compared the police to the Gestapo. Every year 40000 (or more, I haven’t checked lately) people are killed in auto accidents. Every year. That’s fifteen or so World Trade Center casualty lists. Every year. Many reports on those deaths contain the phrase "and was ejected from the vehicle." In general, being ejected is a very bad thing.

Much opposition to these laws seems to be based on the attitude that government shouldn’t mandate anything, that everything should be individual choice. Pedestrian right-of-way and other traffic laws (e.g., must stop for red lights) laws also reduce citizen choices and incidentally raise money -- are they equally bad? What about laws requiring turning headlights on when windshield wipers are being used? Is that another infringement of personal liberty and an excuse to raise money through citing violations? Other than in children and teenagers, I don’t understand reluctance/refusal to do what’s a good idea because the government makes it mandatory.

Arguing that because not every dangerous activity is prohibited, no such activities should be prohibited doesn’t make much sense to me and ignores the fact that passage of legislation is ultimately a political process not happening in a vacuum. Note the steady progress of smoking regulation, as there’s increasing recognition that smoking is bad not just for smokers but also for breathers nearby. If these gents object to public-good, public-safety, public-health (and to me, common sense) laws they can and should work through their politicians. (Do they also oppose all zoning laws and building codes? Those also constrain citizen choices and incidentally raise money.) Taylor cites “political morons dictating and making public decisions” — well, yes, that’s how decisions get made — officials we elect pass laws. The implication is that Taylor thinks officials shouldn’t make public decisions. Sorry, that’s a little too anarchistic for me.

Let’s stick to discussing seat belt laws, not compare them to everything else government might or should do or everything government does wrong. And remember, “the perfect” is the enemy of “the good,” it’s always possible to argue that something isn’t good enough so it shouldn’t be done. That leads to never doing anything. Or maybe that’s the goal.

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June 2005 InTowner
Peter Wolfe, intowner@intowner.com

This is to advise that the June 2005 on-line edition has been uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports, editorials (including prior months’ archived), restaurant reviews (prior months’ also archived), and the text from the ever-popular “Scenes from the Past” feature. Also included are all current classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to March 2002) also is available in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by clicking the link provided. Here you will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in print, including all photos and advertisements. The next issue will publish on July 8 (the second Friday of the month, as always). The complete PDF version will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at the latest, following which the text of the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.

To read this month’s lead stories, simply click the link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “Town House Reconstruction Projects Seen as Out-of-Scale Creating Neighborhood Angst”; 2) “Harris Teeter Project Takes New Turn — PUD Application Withdrawn”; 3) “Adams Morgan Launches Ambitious Re-Forestry Project with New Trees”; 4) “Kalorama Neighbors Divided About Disruptions Due to Correspondents Recent Mega-Event in Kalorama — Many Question Appropriateness for Neighborhood.”

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The DCPS Strategic Plan Deserves a Failing Grade
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net

NARPAC tends to approach lengthy, but highly-touted, strongly endorsed, DC-related plans and reports with considerable skepticism. We read them from cover-to-cover and often end up very disappointed in their content. While there are a few very important (and obvious) thrusts in the new DCPS ten-year “strategic” plan, it is burdened with a laundry list of well over one hundred action items (tactics?) covering fourteen distinct strategies in support of three different goals, based on three core values. Most are unrealistically targeted for completion within two more school years. Prepared with the help of a cast of hundreds, it is at best a compendium of every participant’s pet rock. If the current school management and staff could grapple with all of these issues that quickly, DCPS would already be a “world-class system that DC could be proud of,” and the promise of a “fundamental redesign of the school system” would be unnecessary.

More troubling to us, however, is the discovery that the quantitative goals set for near-term grade improvements far exceed current accomplishments across Virginia or Maryland school systems, or among ten major city school districts for equivalent cohorts. Moreover, the plan makes no reference to current trends in school demographics or enrollment; defers discussion of the massive "structural imbalance" in school facilities; offers no cost considerations or priorities; ignores the role of union workers; and seeks extensive local support but no better cooperation within our highly professional metro area. Finally, the plan all but neglects the major role of the neighborhood and individual family environments. In fact, there is no mention of the influence of DC’s twenty-years’ worth of past failed students that taint the current parent pool. Take a look at our analysis at http://www.narpac.org/PESTPLAN.HTM. Perhaps you’ll see hope and promise where we see false hope and obfuscation. This is right at the crux of our national capital city’s future.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Mt. Pleasant Music and Jewelry, June 16
Laurie Collins, lauriec@lcsystems.com

Two big events coming up this week in Mount Pleasant. The first event is this Thursday, June 16, from 6-8 p.m., with the first of five free "Music in the Park" events featuring Butros Butros, a local Mt. Pleasant Band. Come out and enjoy two hours of music performed by one of your neighbors. They will be playing in Lamont Park. Sponsored by the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Alliance.

The second event is Saturday, June 18, 5-7:30 p.m., at Boveda, 3165 Mount Pleasant Street. Boveda’s Barbara Cameron will host an exhibition and sale of contemporary beaded jewelry from designer Christine Fischer from Johannesburg, South Africa. Proceeds of this event to benefit Women’s Cooperative South Africa.

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Youth Gang Violence Summit at UDC, June 18
Mike Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu

The past two years have seen an alarming increase in violent deaths among youths under the age of 25 in the District of Columbia. In recognition of this disturbing trend and in an effort to reverse this cycle, the University of the District of Columbia’s Office of Community Outreach and Involvement (a branch of the University’s Division of Student Affairs) is joining together with the Council of Churches of Greater Washington to convene a Youth/Gang/Violence Summit on the University’s campus this Saturday, June 18, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The day-long meeting will explore this worrisome challenge from many aspects, including panel discussions on issues including parents of fallen children and the perspective from "behind the wall," understanding gangs and crews, the system speaks, the psychology of self-hate murder, and healing and restoration.

In addition to panel discussions, there will be gospel entertainment and a step team from a local church. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided to participants. The summit will be held in Room A-03 of Building 44 on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia, located at 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW. For more details, please contact Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness at 274-7114 or Dr. Ora Hill Dugar of the Council of Churches of Greater Washington at 722-9240.

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Panel Discussion: When, Where, and How To Network, June 18
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org

It isn’t what you know, it’s who you know. We’ve all heard this classic. But how do you get to know the people you need to know to be successful? For this special event Andy Forbes of Netpreneur gathered a team of experienced networkers (including Melinda Sigal, JD Kathuria, Sid Smith, and Stephanie Bauer) who will talk about the tools, groups, and techniques they use.

Gather your friends, colleagues, and family members and bring them to this Saturday, June 18, 1:00 p.m. (check-in: 12:45 p.m.), panel discussion of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special Interest Group (E&C SIG). This free event will be in the First Floor Large Auditorium of the library at 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW, just over a block from the Cleveland Park Metrorail Station on the Red Line. If you plan to drive, be sure to arrive early — parking is tight. For more information about this event, moderator Andy Forbes, the panelists, and CPCUG [a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization], and to register, visit http://www.cpcug.org/user/entrepreneur/605meet.html.

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National Building Museum Events, June 18-19
Brie Hensold, bhenhold@nbm.org

All events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.

Saturday, June 18, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Construction watch tour of Unified Communications Center. Located on St. Elizabeth’s East Campus in southeast Washington, the Unified Communications Center will be a state-of-the-art facility that consolidates the command and control functions of the District of Columbia’s newly formed Office of Unified Communications. Irena Savakova, lead designer, and Mark Woodburn, project architect, both with DMJM Design, will lead a tour of this 138,000-square-foot project, which will handle emergency calls and provide centralized regional coordination and communications during major emergencies. The facility is scheduled for completion later this year. Open only to Museum members, $15. Space is limited. Prepaid registration required. To register, call the Museum or visit http://www.nbm.org beginning May 16.

Sunday, June 19. 1:00-2:00 p.m. Film: Duke Ellington’s Washington. This film (57 minutes, 2000) documents the high-society history of the African American community in Washington, DC, and the current condition of still-stately neighborhoods that saw their heyday during the Jazz Age. This screening complements the exhibition Washington: Symbol and City. Free. Registration not required.

Sunday, June 19, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Family program: egg drop design competition. During this "eggceptional" program, families design a container using only one piece of paper and a rubber band to protect an egg when dropped 24 feet from the Museum’s second-floor balcony. $7 Museum members; $10 nonmembers. Ages 8 and up. Registration required.

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DC Public Library Events, June 18, 20
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov

Saturday, June 18, 12:30 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Author Rosemary Reed Miller will discuss her book, The Threads of Time, The Fabric of History, and host a fashion show. Public contact: 541-6100.

Monday, June 20, 12:30 p.m. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Main Lobby. The Philosophy Division of the DC Public Library presents an introductory lecture on Feng Shui and Asian philosophy by Jeannie Marie Tower, FSSA, BBEI, and EFT-CC. Public contact: 727-1251.

Monday, June 20, 6:30 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Author Irmgard A. Hunt will discuss her book, On Hitler’s Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood. Public contact: 282-3080.

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Juneteenth Celebration, June 19
David Bosserman, orilla@comcast.net

An afternoon of music, speakers, remembrance, and fellowship will commemorate the historical day that the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enacted for all African Americans. The modern Juneteenth Celebration and DC Music Festival, set for June 19 in Washington, DC, will commemorate the 140th anniversary of the day, June 19, 1865, when Union troops reached Galveston, Texas, to establish the Emancipation Proclamation as law in the last state of Confederate rebellion — two and a half years after the date of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The Juneteenth Celebration and DC Music Festival will be held on Sunday, June 19 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at the African American Civil War Memorial, U Street and Vermont Avenue, NW. The site in case of raise is the Dynasty Ethiopian Restaurant (14th and Florida).

The afternoon will be hosted by Jared Ball of the DC Statehood Green Party and Blackademics on WPFW. The event is being organized by the African American Civil War Museum, Head-Roc.com, Upset The Setup, DC Statehood Green Party, members of Empower DC, Left Turn Magazine, Organized C.O.U.P, Thermite Records, Jubilant Sound, African American Holiday Association (AAHA) and Abdir-Rahim Muhammad of The Hung Tao Choi Mei Leadership Institute, in association with the African American Civil War Memorial. Scheduled musical performers include The Head-Roc War Machine, Mello D and The Rados, Machetres, DJ Sam "The Man" Burns, Flash Gordan, DJ Curtis Lee, DJ Stylus, DJ Dub, DJ Vince Brown, The Lucky Lions Martial Arts Troop. Scheduled speakers: Hari Jones, Curator, African American Civil War Museum, Members of Empower DC, Abdur Rahim Muhammed, Rami Elamine, Left Turn Magazine, Luci Murphy, Alternate Roots, Rick Tingling-Clemmons of the DC Statehood Green Party, Ayo Handy Kendi, African American Holiday Association (AAHA). For more information go to http://www.head-roc.com/juneteenth/.

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Brazilian Jews in American Jewish Society, June 23
Diana Altman, museum@bnaibrith.org

Professor Regina Igel will discuss the role of Brazilian Jews in American Jewish society, dating back to 1650, on June 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, 2020 K Street, NW.

Kosher dinner and talk on "The Role of Brazilian Jews in American Jewish Society Dating Back to 1650." This program will discuss the twenty-three Jews who fled Portuguese Brazil and sought refuge in the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, now known as New York. They left behind the first synagogue to be inaugurated in the Americas, which was recently discovered in the city of Recife (northeastern region of Brazil). A PowerPoint presentation will enhance the discussion with photos related to the synagogue. Regina Igel is a professor of Brazilian literature and culture at the University of Maryland College Park. She has researched and published books and articles about contemporary Brazilian literature and Jewish Latin American literatures.

The dinner and speech are cosponsored by the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in partnership with the JCC of Greater Washington, the B’nai B’rith Chesapeake Bay Region, and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) Northern Virginia. Cost: $20 for B’nai B’rith, Museum, JCC, and Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington members and $25 for nonmembers. Reservations are required. For more information or reservations, please call 857-6583.

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Palisades Fourth of July Parade, July 4
Alma Gates, ahg71139@aol.com

Be sure to put the Palisades Fourth of July Parade on your calendar. It is the parade! It begins at 11:00 a.m. at MacArthur Boulevard and Whitehaven Parkway and ends at the Palisades Recreation Center where there are drinks, hot dogs, and watermelon. Great fun for all!

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Summer Sublet Available Dining Room Furniture for Sale
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

We have a furnished upstairs bedroom/office available for the summer near the Van Ness Metro stop. $1300 for the whole summer, including utilities. Visit http://www.mathteachingtoday.com/upstairsroom.htm.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Dining Room Furniture
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

We have a dining room set for sale. It needs some work, but the pieces have a beautiful mahogany finish. Visit http://www.mathteachingtoday.com/furniture.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS

Homestay Hosts Needed
Harold Goldstein, mdbiker@goldray.com

Are you interested in hosting a foreign student for three weeks this August? This group of students will be from France and will range in age from 16-18. You must have a child within about two years in age of the foreign student, although we do need a host for the adult coordinator as well. If you are interested, contact Harold Goldstein at mdbiker@goldray.com or 301-854-0388. For further program information visit the Compass USA web site at http://www.compass-usa.net.

If the above group does not work for you but you have interest in hosting, please contact me anyway, as we have students coming in June and July.

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