• Dave McKenna incited a quiet riot on Monday by asking, "Did Anybody Go to the Phish Reunion?" Phish fans, many endowed with a LSD-inspired sixth sense, flocked to the comments board. The exchange was nowhere near as trippy as the culture war going on over at the Sexist, or as revolting as the average Twilight attack, still, I was mucho impressed to see the school of stone-washed stoners band together in defense of Trey "Is this thing on?" Anastasio.
• Speaking of getting stoned: "Police said Monday they confiscated about $1.2 million in illegal drugs and more than $68,000 in cash...Authorities also arrested 194 Phish fans during the three-night celebration of the band's return to the stage after a nearly five-year absence." That's the gut of an AP article about the Phish reunion concert. Let me sum it up in a different way: Laid back folk got together to listen to some laid back tunes, and the cops ROBBED THE SHIT OUT OF THEM. For those of you who are thinking (or typing) "serves those scofflaws right," I want you to look around your home or office for a consumable that some other person might perceive as unhealthy–a bottle of Jager, maybe, or the April 2004 issue of Genesis magazine, or a package of Ramen noodles. Now, I want you to imagine some sweaty prick with a Taser taking that thing away from you, bending your arms behind your back, snapping a picture of you after you've been crying (this picture will end up online), demanding thousands of dollars in exchange for your freedom, and then releasing you in your dirty laundry with that taboo attached to your personal record. Ugh.
• The National Review Online's Media Blog tips its hat to the Washington Times for totally nailing the Chas Freeman story. Kevin D. Williamson writes: "The other Times — the Washington Times — was very much on the case, with Eli Lake providing the most substantive reporting on Freeman, his history, and his connections to the Chinese and Saudi regimes. National Review, The New Republic, and other opinion journals covered the story, but the newspapers were largely absent. The Washington Post covered the story sparingly, and the Wall Street Journal touched on it, too, but considering the issues at play, it was remarkable that so much of the daily press took a back seat." It would seem that this is one of those stories only Washington folk give a shit about: Jamie "Am I bigger than Jesus, yet?" Kirchick dug his heels into the Freeman story over at The New Republic and the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel suggested that the now office-less Freeman will one day form an unholy alliance with Michael Steele.
• Michael Perkins did some WMATA math and found "Metrorail fares have stayed flat relative to inflation for trips of equal length." He goes on to suggest that WMATA could stand to raise them: "Would it be better if fares kept up with inflation, and there was less pressure for service cuts?  Maybe with fare increases, there would be money for increased service after the recession is over." Perkins' post is deep, folks. I suggest those of you who can handle more than a graf or two of uninterrupted transportation talk dive the hell in. Though for my money, I think WMATA would invest in a chain of children's haircutteries before it raised fares as much as they need raising–an amount that would further marginalize the people who need WMATA the most. (Also a good transportation read: "Nobody Rides for Free," by Sarah Godfrey.)
• Last but not least, there's a party: My some-time bosses at Reason magazine and reason.com are hosting a Reason.tv (so many domains!) viewing party this Friday in celebration of John Stossel's 20/20 special, "Bailouts, Big Spending, and Bull." I have reason to believe that "[s]oft and hard drinks and light fare will be served," and I'm certain that admission is free, and that most of the attendees will be the sweetest, most disarmingly-sincere capitalist pigz most of you have never met. Just make sure and RSVP. (Ruth Samuelson wrote a great piece about think tank food awhile back, now's as good a time as any to read it.)

OK, folks, let's seize this thing.

Flickr photo courtesy of David Drexler. Thanks David!

• George Mason University's economics department (known for its unquantifiable love of freedom) is losing the very smart Peter T. Leeson to the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago, where he'll join the likes of Steve Levitt and Kevin Murphy. Leeson is the author of the sure-to-be-funny  Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates. [H/t to Tom at Fr33 Agents]

• Pete Eyre of Bureaucrash observed the anniversary of Ruby Ridge yesterday, and finished up his eulogy quite nicely: "This post touches on lots of factors but they all come down to one thing: That we, as individuals, should be free to act so long as we don’t initiate force against another. If we continue to stand idly by as our freedoms are usurped it’ll soon be too late. Because, as Thomas Jefferson noted, 'When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.'"

• Speaking of speaking up: This year's March on the Pentagon takes place on March 21 (which also happens to be the day that Rita's will be giving out free 10 oz. Italian ices!). Participants are meeting up at noon at 23rd St. & Constitution Ave. The theme is the same as last year: "Occupation is a crime!" Dress accordingly.

• In local news, Michael Perkins of Greater Greater Washington has an insanely thorough breakdown of proposed Metro service cuts. Here's just a taste of the proposed bus cuts: "Eliminate the 60 (Ft. Totten-Petworth) while keeping the 64; the L4 (Connecticut Ave) while keeping the L1 and L2; the N3 (Massachusetts Ave) while keeping the N2, N4, and N6; and the P2 (Anacostia-Eckington) while keeping the P1 and P6. Shorten the 42 bus between McPherson and Metro Center, and the 80 between McPherson and the Kennedy Center."

Have a good weekend, City Desk readers.

Good morning, City Desk readers. It's Libertarian Friday, are you ready to rage against the system? Great! Here's some news:

• Culture11, the conservative/libertarian Web magazine started by Conor Friedersdorf, Peter Suderman, Joe Carter, David Kuo, and James Poulos and based in Arlington, laid off its entire staff on Wednesday. According to Kuo: "We raised a certain amount of money last year predicated on the assumption we would raise more money...Then the fall’s fall occurred and we stretched money as long and far as we could without incurring any debts. With no new money in the door the board decided the most prudent thing to do was suspend business operations." Andrew Sullivan's eulogy for the magazine is especially touching.

• Pete Eyre, founder of the anti-statist social networking site Bureaucrash, has been trying to schedule a meeting with someone from the Arlington Police Department after he was intimidated by an Arlington police officer. (Background: Eyre called the APD after he found an officer had parked his cruiser in a no-parking zone while he went to the gym. The officer who responded to Eyre's call politely refused to write a ticket and left the scene. The officer who had been working out, however, decided to exercise his authority by following Eyre around the neighborhood in his gym clothes, sometimes right up close, sometimes from a distance. Eyre walked nearly a mile away from his home and found the officer was still following him. Always ready to fight the system, Eyre recorded the incident on video.)
• But a little hassle is nothing compared to death by police shooting, the subject of Dave McKenna's Cheap Seats story "Death by Wager." McKenna's lead says it all: "Sal Culosi was shot and killed by a Fairfax County cop three years ago last Saturday. He was about to be arrested for taking football bets, the quarry of a dubious sting operation that seemed timed to make a news splash ahead of the upcoming Super Bowl. (Why dubious? Well, the only major bettor was an undercover police officer, and the alleged bookie, Culosi, covered all the bets himself.)"
• WMATA is trying to cut $103 million from its 2009 budget. Michael Perkins at InfoSnack Headquarters breaks down the numbers. According to Perkins, "the largest increases in costs ($44 million) come from wage increases for unionized employees, which WMATA budgeting treats as sacrosanct." And while union employees will get a pay raise, hundreds of non-union employees will lose their jobs. UPDATE: WMATA will trim the ranks of union employees as welll.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user fdecomite.

Good morning, City Desk readers. It's Friday, Jan. 9, which means we'll have a new president in 11 days. Psyched? You totally should be–your City Paper is hard at work on a mind-blowing inauguration issue. Another reason to be psyched is that I've been mainlining coffee since 5 a.m., which means this roundup is gonna be a mutha-f'ing doozie. And now some news:

• According to the Washington Post, Big Brother the Department of Homeland Security is moving to Anacostia: "After years of battling historic preservationists, the federal government won approval yesterday to build a massive headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security on a 176-acre hilltop site east of the Anacostia River." (I'm going to take this as an opportunity to plug Snitch Jacket, 9/11-Truther Len Bracken's anarchist/dystopian District novel!)
• On the flip side, And Now, Anacostia has some positive planning news about the restoration of the house at 1312 U Street SE.
• Fr33 Agents (a new political website based in Arlington) reports that Liberty Tavern, a favorite watering hole of NoVa libertarians, "has voluntarily gone smoke-free." It then went on to hosted a press conference at which Va. Gov. Tim Kaine pledged to make all of Virginia's bars smoke-free. Word on the (libertarian) street is that Liberty Tavern just lost a few patrons.
• Michael Perkins (whose tiff with WMATA we blogged about yesterday) posted a great roundup of proposed transportation legislation in Va. The appallingly-statist standouts are HB 1659, which "would prohibit all non-emergency use of wireless devices while driving (even a bike), even while using hands-free devices"; HB 1698, which "requires people who are selling scrap copper and other nonferrous metals like catalytic converters (which contain platinum) to provide documentation that they actually own the scrap metal being sold"; and HB 1661, which "converts Virginia's "cents per gallon" tax on gasoline and diesel fuel into a percentage tax."
• While we're on the topic of transportation, WMATA is threatening to sue Flex Your Rights (we wrote about Flex Your Rights' event at the Dupont Circle Metro back in October) over a servicemark violation–FYR used Metro's "M" symbol on its fliers advising passengers to boycott the bag searches. FYR's response? Bring it on.

That's it for me. Look for an afternoon roundup of weekend events, and I'll see y'all next Friday.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Wrote.

"The websites [infosnack.org and greatergreaterwashington.org] do not serve to provide information to the general public, therefore we find that you are not a representative of the news media."

So says WMATA's chief of staff, Shiva Pant, in a letter denying my appeal of their October decision that blogs aren't "news media." I asked for reduced information request fees under the "Member of the News Media" and "Public Interest" sections of WMATA's Public Access to Records Policy, or PARP. The PARP derives from the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and according to the letter, "WMATA interprets and applies the PARP consistent with federal FOIA law and practice."

I request information from WMATA to write articles about their activities. Most of my articles come from their press releases, board and RAC meeting reports, and information posted on wmata.com. I also request information from staff contacts. More recently, WMATA staff have initially declined some of my requests, and directed me to use PARP. For example, I recently analyzed bus reliability data. I originally asked the press office, who directed me to the PARP office. This process can take months, and if the information requires extensive searching, can be expensive. Ordinarily, the person requesting the information must pay WMATA's costs.

Perkins based his argument on the Open Government Act of 2007, which established the criteria for using FOIA, "and thus PARP" as "any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience."

Perkins is an informative read, both at Infosnack and GGW, for people interested in transportation issues. But he's also keen as hell, and WMATA is unknowingly setting itself up for a citizen-blogged headache by stonewalling him.