I guess I didn't get the memo.

Apparently, this is not the time to ask Councilmember Marion Barry or his staff about Sharon Bowen. Barry paid Bowen $50,000 to work on poverty issues in 2007 and 2008. Bowen was another Barry girlfriend.

Why not today? HBO is premiering a documentary on Barry's life. It's either that or he's dead. When asked about Bowen's supposed organizing of a poverty summit, Barry's spokesperson Natalie Williams made it clear that the press should be focusing on more important things---like legacies.

Williams' immediate response to my Bowen question: "All of our interviews are focused now around Barry's legacy."

When I made it clear that I really just wanted some clarification on the Bowen matter, Williams simply hung up on me.

In reporting out our story on Sharon Bowen, a woman linked professionally and personally to Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry, it was difficult to figure out what she exactly did for the residents of the District.

Between spring 2007 and spring 2008, Barry had awarded her $50,000 in taxpayer-funded contracts. From our sources, we kept hearing two things: Bowen was a "class act" and Barry's girlfriend. None of our sources could talk with deep knowledge about her actual work. All city records have to show for it are invoices written by Bowen and the Barry-approved personal services contracts.

We are just supposed to know that Bowen worked in the areas of poverty reduction (specifically on organizing a Poverty Summit), working with the Ward 8 Business Council, and to "ensure that the vision of Councilmember Marion Barry is fulfilled."  Does this seem like $50,000 worth of work?

When asked about Bowen's work, Ward 8 Business Council Executive Director James Bunn admitted it wasn't rocket science. He said Bowen essentially went door-to-door to identify Ward 8 businesses. If she made a report on her findings, he didn't see one.

It all feels like work you give an intern. Or something Barry should have delegated to his constituent services office or an elected ANC commissioner or a staffer at the Ward 8 Business Council. This does not feel like $50,000 work you give to a woman who votes in Ohio.

At the time of Bowen's work, poverty in the District was a very real problem, one that hadn't changed since the last recession. According to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, the gap between high-wage and low-wage workers had reached an all-time high in 2007 and poverty levels were at their highest in more than a decade.

That's a locally-based financial outfit that hands out quick cash loans -- with no credit check -- to any sad sack who turns over a car's title and a spare key.

I missed most of the first quarter of Florida/Oklahoma, but saw only two of Cashpoint's beautifully awful spots during the rest of the game. Quite a departure from Monday's BCS matchup of Texas and Ohio State, when viewers were forced to endure/treated to another, um, underproduced CashPoint ad every several minutes.

Instead, local breaks previously filled by Cashpoint spots were filled with ads for either a starving artist bazaar at a local hotel or a sell-off of overstocked electronics and computer equipment to be held at the DC Armory.

Anybody still doubt we're in a depression?

On a more upbeat note, however: Anybody who followed the advice given in the same blog post and put their paycheck on Florida and gave the four points has no need today for economic stimulus.

If past is prologue, those viewing the alleged national championship game on the local Fox affiliate better be prepared for a barrage of wonderfully underproduced and low-aiming commercials for an outfit called CashPoint.

That's a Virginia financial firm that gives equity loans to car owners.

The best/worst of the fantastic/horrific CashPoint ads that aired seemingly every few minutes in Monday's Texas/Ohio State clash had a cleavagey female in a retail store fawning over something in a jewelry case and moaning, "I would do anything for any guy that would buy me that!"

A nerdy dude standing nearby hears the line and immediately falls for this Moana Lisa.

As his jaw hits the floor and eyes go wide, an excited narrator in Monster Trucks mode barks, "Neeeeeeeed cash? Take your car title to CashPoint and get cash!"

Talk about a sign of the times. According to CashPoint's website, those wanting quick money can bring their "lien-free [car] title" and a spare car key to any of the company's 11 locations throughout Virginia. (Woodbridge, which, as anybody who has taken a cruise down Route 1 lately can tell you, has been all but destroyed by the economic downturn, is the only town with two CashPoint outlets.)

Company staffers will then appraise the vehicle and give you a loan against your car's value.

"CashPoint will hold your title," reads the company's FAQ. "You keep your car and get the cash you need."

No credit check is necessary. But if you don't keep up with payments, the fine print says, they'll put that spare key you handed over to use and take possession of the auto.

I'm no Tim Geithner, but I think that the nerd in the commercial would be better off raising the quick capital needed to land the bauble-craving babe by putting his entire paycheck on Tim Tebow and Florida, and laying the 4 points.

Here are the money quotes from the story:

The budget forced them to give up many store-bought foods and dinners out. Even bread and canned refried beans were too expensive.

Instead, the couple — Christopher Greenslate, 28, and Kerri Leonard, 29, both high school social studies teachers — bought raw beans, rice, cornmeal and oatmeal in bulk, and made their own bread and tortillas. Fresh fruits and vegetables weren’t an option. Ms. Leonard’s mother was so worried about scurvy, a result of vitamin C deficiency, that they made room in their budget for Tang orange drink mix. (They don’t eat meat — not that they could have afforded it.)

In other words, they had to live on crap, which helps you understand why poverty inevitably leads to a shorter life span. You can read all about Greenslate and Leonard's experiment on their---what else?---blog, http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com