A Wal-Mart here--in my Own Backyard??

Wal-Mart is coming!  No, make that multiple Wal-Marts are invading!    The largest retail store in the world (based on revenue) is very interested in setting up a foothold in one of the nation's most powerful city.

There is even talk that Wal-Mart is scouting out Skyland, the decrepit, oft-forgotten strip mall that through a bitterly contested battle in court was seized by eminent domain and now so ripe for development.  Across the street, Clancy's the dark and danky strip club -- the last in the southeast -- closed around a year ago.

Skyland could be Wal-Mart's 5th location in DC

When I first came to DC in 2003, I heard that someone big was coming here.  Seven years later I am still tapping my fingers, hoping for Ikea. Will a big box with a yellow smiley face put me out of misery?

Photo by andrewmtu (DCist)

But Wal-Mart will equate to  jobs, a place to purchase a vast variety of food at attractive prices and spur further urban revitalization.  But that's what they said about Nationals Park four years ago, and I'm still waiting for a place to buy fresh fruit that's not wrapped in plastic at Subway's.

And clearly not everyone is smiling about Wal-Mart's bold announcement.  Last week, a small group of protestors picketed in Woodley Park in front of the home of a developer who has stated that he wants to open stores for Wal-Mart in DC.  This is an effective way of getting a message across -- scare the living daylights out of their children.

There are clearly no shortage of anti-Wal-Mart sentiment across this country and DC is no different.  The litany of complaints is seemingly never ending, starting with ole Smiley being a Bully and their unethical tactics of squeezing down labor costs and fixing prices.

Polar Bear Plunge at National Harbor

Have you thought about going out today?  Or are you like me at home by the furnace, with a nice warm cup of chai tea and surfing the net.  Today being DC's most frigid day of the year, many avid Polar Bears decided to go out without barely anything on at all, and what take the heck, take a screaming running splash into the frosty Potomac.  Ok, some didn't have to get too, too wet.  Many just waded into the water until their knee caps or maybe even belly buttons touched the water.

But why saunter out at all?  Insane?  Perhaps, but it's all for a worthy cause. Polar Bear Plunges raise money and awareness and in this case supported the Chesapeake Climate Action Group.  And what's their noteworthy mission: To fight climate change in the DMV.

After the dip, many of the Polar Bears warmed up at the heated tents with warm Apple Cider.  Then it was off to Bonds or the National Pastime to laugh about the frivolity of it all.  After all, the idea was to raise awareness for our climate and to protect our beloved bears from going into deep freeze.  And what was more exciting than dipping in water that was below freezing, riding to the National Harbor on bikes from Capital Bikeshares from DC.

Social Media Evangelists Tweet Trends from GW Business School

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  What a stimulating day, spanning social media with #L2socialgraph to medicinal recipes during Shakespeare's time!

Are you reading this blog from your desk or outside your doorway?  Studies show that more people in three years will be surfing the Internet from their mobile phones than from the desktop computers. It’s mostly driven by emerging markets that are skipping computers altogether and adopting handheld PDAs as their primary tool, according to Scott Galloway, the founder of L2, a Think Tank for Digital Innovation.

RT @yianniak: More people will be surfing the web on their phone or tablet -- than they do on a computer within 3 years! -#l2socialgraph

Today, social media experts from the government and private sectors assembled at the social enterprising George Washington University to engage in stimulating discussions on the constantly evolving future of social media.

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  “Social media and other online strategies are critical tools that public sector organizations use to encourage transparency, engage constituents and serve the public in an era of cost cutting,” said Dean Doug Guthrie. “Our leaders and public sector organizations need to embrace these powerful new tools.”








• A college setting is the ideal location for such a dialogue because Facebook and Twitter are proving to be popular places for networking and promotion:

  

  RT @yianniak: Young affluents are 2x likely to be on #facebook that to WATCH #tv. #L2socialgraph

  After all, more and more students are tweeting in class and sharing notes and observations about the lecture with each other (yes, during class).  

The Service of the Shrivers: Best Buddies

circa, 1962 (Wikipedia)

Today we lost a great American hero: Robert Sargent Shriver.  He was a heroic statesman, the driving force behind the Peace Corps and a wonderful husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Last year, I was blessed to be a small but life-impacting part of the 2010 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Challenge serving the Best Buddies organization.  I was also delighted to meet Michelle Kwan in person.  This was not the first time I met her.  I had seen her onboard the USS John C. Stennis during the 2001 Pearl Harbor Premiere in Hawaii.

Although, I did not actively participate, I stopped by and got to meet new friends as well as welcome old ways.

Here is the video. Late but still pertinent and I hope it moves you to make some difference in people's lives. This post is months late, but it's never too late to serve, to make new friends and to challenge each other so we can perform our best.

Also featured on this blog are one of the most accomplished athletes of all time: Carl Lewis.

It was great to see David Archuleta perform for us.

This beautiful portrait is displayed at the National Portrait Gallery

GWU Wishes Happy Bday to MLK at Former Gang Plagued School

The spirit of service is alive and vibrant at George Washington University (GWU) and on the birthday of the legendary Dr. Martin Luther King, hundreds of GWU students, staff and faculty took a day ON, not a day off to beautiful this former gang-plagued school.

Ballou High School in the past has been plagued with violence both off and on-campus.
 

In 2003, the school was shut down for weeks due to a mercury spill in the chemistry lab.  In 2004, a 17-year-old student, star football-player, (J-Rock Richardson) was killed during a confrontation after class.  The hallways were filled with trash and graffiti.  Teachers were too afraid to correct students.
Students from Condon Terrace and Barry Farms feuded with Ballou.

Yelp's "Most Wanted" at Crime & Punishment Museum

Don't know why I actually felt home here.

Hi Chito!

I just wanted to let you know that a couple guests at tonight's (er, well I guess last night's technically) event came up to me letting me know they found a Kindle and saw that it was registered under your name!

I just wanted to let you know that you don't need to panic and I have your baby (I myself have a Nook so I know what it's like). If you'd like to meet somewhere or come over to pick it up from my place, just let me know. But I just wanted you to know that it's in good hands!

Take care and I hope you had a good time at the event!

Amanda S.

Yelp DC Intern

I was one of the fortunate few hundred who had a chance to visit the Crime and Punishment Museum for Yelp's Most Wanted Party.  Since I spent New Years Eve at home typing on the computer, this was my way to make up for my missed celebration.

It was a wonderful evening, until I turned around and for the life of me, I couldn't remember where I put it.  It was only when I was perusing the dark side at the CSI Experience that it suddenly dawned on me that I left it in jail.

So I rushed two floors up to the replica jail cell only to discover that my amazing Kindle had disappeared.

Surely, there were enough thugs and jailbirds within these walls to make a quick snatch and run (There was even an actual life-size hole in the wall for your daring jail cell escape).

My Plan to Swim the Anacostia Before I Croak

I love stand up paddling on the Potomac, but on the Anacostia?

The new Anacostia River license plate (costs $25 to purchase)

Why there's too much ice up river?  Not really, Anacostia is my home and this forsaken river is my backyard.

This afternoon, I launched from Diamond Teague Pier, the brand new pier built to one day facilitate ferries to and fro the Nationals Ball Park.   What a perfect memorial for a smart kid that cared so much for the development of his community.  Diamond Teague was a charismatic young volunteer at the Earth Conservation Corp who was shot in the head in front of his house in 2003 at the age of 19.