Yes, Virginia, You Put Your Weed In There: In the near future, Virginia may no longer just be the place to buy legal guns and cheap tobacco. It'll also be the place to go buy pot! Legislators in the Old Dominion are studying whether to allow marijuana sales at state-owned liquor stores. Prediction: This won't happen. But if it does, it'll generate a lot more cash than lotto does. +3

Trent Franks For D.C. Council: Election year abortion politics are complicated. Conservative lawmakers want to show they're fighting the culture wars, but they don't really want to deal with a backlash from constituents who—reasonably—don't want their own rights restricted. Fortunately for Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks, there's always the District! Franks will introduce legislation next week to ban abortions after 20 weeks of a pregnancy—never mind that D.C. is overwhelmingly more pro-choice than his own state is. The National Right to Life Committee is a big fan; they say there's no need to consult District officials about the bill because, hey, Congress can do whatever it wants. -4

Whose Court? Our Court: The Supreme Court became the latest seat of national power to be occupied today, as Occupy D.C. protesters marched, sang, and chanted outside to protest the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling that more or less ended any pretense that big corporations don't run politics in this country. Police arrested 12 demonstrators. Had the protest managed to actually take over the building, we presume the court would have been renamed (a la the People's Pentagon) the People's Court. Chief Justice Joseph Wapner presiding? +2

Let It Mix: Is there any weather term drearier than "wintry mix?" None of the excitement of a blizzard, none of the beauty of a clear day, not even the sheer terror of, say, a hurricane. That's what's in store for the District and environs tonight through early tomorrow afternoon. On the plus side, it's Friday night, so most people's commutes won't be ruined. On the minus side, your Saturday may be. -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 41 Today's score: 0 Friday bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 42

Even though abortion money is currently off the table, thanks to the Obama debt-ceiling deal, considering the protests sparked earlier this year, it's difficult to imagine that D.C. government will just roll over and accept a permanent bill as-is.

Still, at least Issa is living up to his promise to offer some form of budget autonomy. And who knows what will happen? Councilmember Kwame Brown's remarks on the bill were on the warmer side: “Even though Rep. Issa and I do not always agree on everything, I appreciate that he clearly supports giving the District local budget autonomy."

Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License

D.C. Busted: For months, budget experts and politicians have been warning of how bad the District's fiscal situation is, and how much would have to be cut from expenditures (or raised in new taxes) to fill a $450 million gap in this year's balance sheet. Now it turns out the real shortfall is $600 million instead. The solution is obvious—start charging a tax on commuters from Maryland and Virginia who spend most of their weeks here and take all their income home with them—but unfortunately, that's not an option. (Thanks, Congress!) Look for a municipal bake sale soon, featuring $40,000 cupcakes; if it's sponsored by those folks with the TLC show, people are sure to buy 'em. -4

Run, Rudy, Run: And now, time for today's installment of completely arbitrary national rankings ginned up to get Web traffic by magazine editors. The latest news: D.C. lands at fifth on a list of the rudest cities in America compiled by Travel + Leisure. Their evidence of our obnoxious nature? Harry S Truman said to get a dog if you want a friend in Washington. The list is clearly wrong, regardless; Philadelphia came in third. Having lived there for more than six years, we can't really trust any rudeness ranking Philly doesn't top. -1

All Your Tax Are Belong To Us: A little-known side effect of being a U.S. colony is that technically, every dollar the D.C. government spends is appropriated to the city by Congress; local tax revenues are turned over to the U.S. Treasury, then given back to the District, in an accounting gimmick that makes about as much sense as, well, denying meaningful representation in the national legislature to residents of the nation's capital does. And so it is that the new Republican House has decided to try to ban District authorities from spending any money—even money that comes from local income or sales taxes—to pay for abortions. Passing laws that only affect a city where none of your constituents live is, clearly, the American dream. -3

Millions and Millions: George Washington University typically finds itself near the top of the "America's most expensive colleges" lists. But now it's clear that all that tuition money is good for something, after all: It can buy you luck! A GW alumnus, Gilbert Cisneros, and his wife Jacki won $266 million in a California lottery drawing last May, and they've given GW $1.1 million out of their haul. Presumably, soon you'll be able to buy lottery tickets with your GWorld card. +1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 55 Today's score: -7 Friday bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 50

The National Mall, January 22

There’s a new, crisp smell in the air—is it fall? Or perhaps the first whiff of bipartisanship in the health care debate? Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine has finally been wooed to the, um, dark side—depending on your point of view—and along with 13 Democrats helped President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority clear a key Senate panel. Her rousing battle cry was straight from the mouth of Gandalf the Grey: “When history calls, history calls.”

A police officer on horseback was attacked yesterday by “at least 20 dogs” at Fort Dupont Park in Southeast, according to WUSA. The woman responsible for the dogs was taken into custody for letting them roam free. And for being a fugitive. Which might possibly explain why she had twenty dogs. That, or they were all Ringwraiths working for Sauron. Your call.

The Associated Press has a creepy-as-orks picture of Venezuelans gathering on a mountainside (which, for the sake of theming, will be called Mount Doom) for their annual pilgrimage to worship an indigenous goddess. Apparently they prick their tongues with razor blades—and I can’t read any more because the picture is making me nauseous.

Prince of Petworth is hosting a bloodthirsty, passionate debate as to whether there should be a Christmas tree in Columbia Heights Plaza. I’m not sure if hobbits celebrate Christmas (cue disintegration of theme…) .

So on a non-hobbit related note, there was also a Latin music festival on the South Lawn of the White House yesterday. Mexican singer, Thalía deemed President Obama's dance moves "Macho." No translation necessary. 

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has reportedly made budget cuts by refusing to hire new officers for the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit. Needless to say, the GLBT community isn’t thrilled. Lanier also got rid of the hostage-negotiation squad a couple months ago. This is the first I’ve heard of these kind of community-oriented units, and I like the idea; unfortunately, everything I write about (i.e., the Adams Morgan bicycle sculpture, the Georgetown Circulator) seems to die. I’ll stop this post now.

Drawing/Photo by Nadine Maude, Creative Commons Attribution License