Using insightful analytical phrases like "bunch of BS" and "that kind of crap," Sarah Palin made her debut on Fox News as a commentator last night! Sorry to say: missed it. But Bill O'Reilly, on whose show Palin appeared, said later the whole thing was really "no different from interviewing Chuck Schumer." Hmm.

On the home front, D.C. has been picked as a possible host city for soccer's World Cup in 2018 or 2022. (That sounds exciting, if you care about soccer, but so have Baltimore and Philadelphia and Boston and Los Angeles and Seattle and 12 other cities. Even Tampa Bay.)

A D.C. Council committee has voted to run the city-funded Circulator bus across one river—the Potomac—but not another—the Anacostia. At-large Councilmember Kwame Brown says he'll fight the fight to get a new route that runs down Pennsylvania Avenue SE to Southern Avenue SE. In a news release, he explained he could not "in good conscious" vote to extend the bus into Virginia while D.C. residents are still waiting.

Metro is holding its third and final day of a "right-of-way" safety workshop today. “Last year we had two employees die as a result of accidents on the tracks and last month we had a train miss a safety inspector because the train operator violated safety procedures,” says Michael Taborn, Metro’s acting chief safety officer. “It is imperative that we strengthen our safety procedures for the thousands of Metro employees who have access to our tracks. Their lives are on the line each and every day.” Is three days enough?

Amen to this sentiment in today's Washington Post: "Let's stop praising Mark McGwire to the skies for finally revealing the world's worst-kept secret—that he used steroids during his storied major league career." No Hall for you!

The Pew Research Center released some interesting survey results yesterday showing that African-Americans are upbeat about African-American progress. Thirty-nine percent of blacks say the "situation of black people in this country" is better than it was five years earlier—compared to 20 percent who said the same in 2007. Fifty-four percent of blacks also said that Barack Obama's election has improved race relations (note: among whites, about a third thought his election had improved race relations, while 45 percent said it has made no difference).

I wonder: What would the survey have shown in the District?

"For a few hours there it actually looked like Bobby Pittman (a well known local gadfly) might be able to stop the Festival through last minute bureaucratic tie ups (NB, [nothing] is wrong with checking signatures, but this was a dirty Bobby move at the last minute). In the end Bobby did not get his way, and the Mayor's office allowed the Festival to proceed. But I'd like to send out a personal Evil Eye to Bobby on this one.  If you really hate seeing all this great stuff on H Street, maybe you should just move dude. Bobby, you have gone on some Don Quixotesque crusade of harassing local businesses (including, but not even close to limited to: Rock and Roll Hotel, the Pug, and the Atlas Performing Arts Center [!]). Aside from the one time I saw you planting flowers on H Street, acting as the PSA 102 Coordinator, and a few other very isolated incidents, I've yet to see you do anything to positively contribute to life on the H Street Corridor, or on Linden. It's one thing to want the laws enforced, and to want good neighbors (both admirable qualities and pursuits). But what you are doing is unacceptable in my opinion, and I hope that others who agree will tell you so to your face. I certainly intend to do so the next time I see you. Until then, Evil Eye to you Pittman."

Barry Farm (Re)mixed expects water rates to go up starting October 1.

Greater Greater Washington has the three finalists up for a public art installation in Adams Morgan.

The Georgetown Metropolitan is urging a Save the Circulator campaign:

"GM was informed that Jack Evans has stepped in to give it another chance and try to convince the Mayor to keep the Wisconsin branch of the Circulator. But now it really is up to us. Please, if you have just one minute, email the Mayor at Adrian.Fenty@DC.gov and let him know that Georgetown has suffered more than enough cuts in its bus service, cutting the Circulator in half would be unfair and short-sighted."

The New Teacher On The Block reports on cutbacks in teacher aides in their classroom:

"However, DCPS is bent on not being able to do anything right, and, as such, they made a decision today that immediately negatively effected my classroom. DCPS has decided to discontinue contracts employment agencies held to supply aides to DCPS classrooms.

These contracts came about in the summer of 2008, when the requirements for assistants changed and many aides were fired for not meeting the requirements. It is my understanding that DCPS was scrambling to find qualified people in a short period of time, and therefore turned to these contract agencies to find aides for the classrooms. All of my classroom aides last year were contractors and 3 of my 4 this year are contractors. However, for whatever reason (probably money) DCPS has decided mid-stream to discontinue this relationship and they want the contractors out. Thus, they are moving them to the most high-need schools in an effort to cover until they hire more people, and then they're getting rid of them. Not sure how this makes sense...but whatever. It's DCPS- who the crap knows?"