It was a very busy week for commenting here at the good ol' DCist - and with a metric ton or two of insightful and witty words to get to, there's just no time to waste with any sort of introduction. So, off we go!

This week's Comment of the Week goes to lp2k, who probably isn't too far off regarding the District's planning process for a potential city-wide bus terminal near L'Enfant Plaza in Southwest:

DC Bureaucrat 1: I’ve noticed that private companies have been successful at providing cheap, relatively convenient travel to and from major population centers on the east coast, isn’t there something we could do about that?

DC Bureaucrat 2: Well, its noon – time to call it day.

After the jump, there's more bus terminal reactions (not as cynically funny, but still), and of course, it's "intern season" in the District.

Photo by spatwei.

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Back to the reality at hand, gerhardj makes a pretty good case that the bus center could be a vital part of the District's transit infrastructure - if planned appropriately:

This could be a more important decision than the city realizes. In the not-too-distant future, if energy costs keep going the way they are, intercity bus transportation could be a major growth industry. Buses are the only feasible long-distant public transport with the flexibility that the Chinatown/etc buses have displayed.

I think including a terminal in the old convention center site is a fantastic idea but probably too late. But DC needs to look at this not just as a chance to round up a bunch of unregulated bus lines but as an important part of its future infrastructure. I think moving things to L'Enfant Plaza would be a mistake (love the convenience factor of walking out of work onto a bus downtown or in Chinatown), but if they do create a terminal, they ought to think it through and do it well.

And taking it from the economic standpoint is mel21clc:

The great thing about these intercity buses is that they pick up and drop off in vibrant, interesting areas of town. From the DC government's perspective, when people come to DC from NY, they ought to be encouraged to spend as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, which increases tax revenue. They also ought to think something along the lines of, "Wow, I really have a good time in DC. I could totally live here and/or visit again soon," which, again, increases the amount of revenue streaming to the city. The more people come, the more money DC makes. Easy enough to figure out.

Taking out one block of parking near Metro Center to replace it with Chinatown bus parking would be a much, much smarter move than this drivel. They could have taxis here when the buses are not in residence, and replace a block's worth of the current taxi stands with metered parking, if they're particularly concerned about maintaining on-street parking spaces. But having the whole block available for bus parking would lessen the incidences of the back of the bus poking into traffic (since the driver wouldn't have to park between cars) and would encourage repeat tourism. Win-win.

Hey, and while we're on the topic of buses, Gary1983 needs more service to the City of Brotherly Love:

Man, yet another DC-NYC line without a stop in Philly!

C'mon! Help us Philly folks out!

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You were rightfully appalled at the damage that a driver caused while careening down 13th Street NW on Monday evening.

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angrypenguin's advice to Metro regarding their new video? Next time, don't overreach on the first date:

Oh, Metro. Much like the guy who takes a woman to Oyamel and the Kennedy Center on a first date, you will never be able to live up to the standard you set with the Peeps video.

You should have started with this video, which is more of an Alero/Uptown Theater video.

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Sure, Marion Barry might have gotten a little gift - but maybe we should cut him some slack, eh, boondoggle?

Didn’t Marion Berry lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott before becoming the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means?

No, wait, that was someone else.

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So wait, we're not pissed about Olsson's Penn Quarter closing? So much so that we're suggesting a five-dollar footlong outpost to replace it? Color me shocked.

Yeah, but books really can't compare to cheap ramen outposts - that we can agree with.

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Looks like there's a new blogging sensation in the city - the documentation of the rather pervy tradition of Craigslist personals' "intern season."

Luckily, somegirl realizes that it's a real sacrifice for these intern chasers:

I love the classic "no time for a girlfriend" line.

"Gee, I would really prefer a loving, committed relationship, but I'm just sooooo busy. I guess (sigh) I'll have to settle for an endless stream of no-strings-attached sex with naive younger women. But that's totally not my first choice!"

While Vaughan has the next step for the interpid bloggers who are accumulating the ads for easy viewing:

i'm so glad dupont west end is concerned about his potential new cat's, er, princess's ability to swim, fitness level, and feeding. and he's gotten a waiver on the requirement to spell "love" with four letters. sweet. how can any intern resist?

doesn't this website seem like it needs a closure page? these guys are just begging interns to go out with them armed with a camera phone and out them via an "after the date" page.

And obviously, when we thought of interns and the internet, our collective thoughts immediately arrived at one commenter. In this week's edition of The Magical World of Monkeyrotica, the man himself creates a very special Craigslist ad for the lot of us:

So, where's dcist's ad? Allow me:

"WANTED - MANWHORE TO SPOIL! ISO HAWT male intern, washboard abs, complete obedience, into copyediting, Jager shots, noncommital sex, verbal and other types of abuse. See, I'm one of those DC powerbrokers you don't hear about. Let me enhance your DC experience with some of the bitchiest thread posters this side of Jezebel. I have an awesome row house full of all the bells, rape whistles, ropes, straps, etc! Luv it!"

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RecSpecs, you're hired.

Take the test!

Wow.

(Hey, we'll miss you, Rusty.)

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You know, with all the murders and rapes that'll be occurring in North Cleveland Park, it's really just a matter of time before we'll need another police checkpoint - the reasoning for which MPD won't be able to tell you about.

But seriously, it's nice to see that everyone's can tell that Winstead's completely off his rocker.

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Hey, it's the official DCist-commenter guide to ducking jury duty, presented by hillrat!

"Jury duty in DC is your best entertainment value. Always fun to see who's wearing a jacket and tie and who's wearing a XXXXXL Tupac teeshirt, poopy pants, and flipflops."

Don't:
1. Wear Malcolm X glasses (my preferred eyewear for the last 6 years)
2. Bring a laptop
3. Read anything other than Source magazine while waiting

Or, you could just be like OldPosterKnownAsCranky, and just spend all your good karma on getting out of serving altogether:

I have lived in DC for more than 10 years. I pay taxes here. Own a residence. Have a driver's license. I have NEVER received a jury duty summons.

Who wants to rub me for good luck?

But at least he's also offering his services to the rest of us:

I will be setting up a "Rub Cranky for Jury Duty Immunity" booth somewhere Metro convenient. Details to follow.

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This is actually a pretty fantastic idea, Reid:

"That would encourage them to have an actual interest in the city, since their politicians piously get up and say they all represent DC."

That would be a better idea than to create fifty tourist bureaus. Let's have fifty restaurants featuring the local cuisine of the fifty states. Maine Lobsters on Maine Ave? Aya! Creole on Louisiana Ave? I gare-run-tee! Early-bird Special on Florida Ave? Too humid, with all this moisture!

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HCE envisions future problems with Mayor Fenty's sloppy accounting while campaigning for Obama:

I am a taxpaying resident of the District of Columbia. I am also a government contractor, and because of the Hatch Act, it is illegal for me to make monetary contributions to a federal presidential campaign. Technically, my tax dollars, regardless of how little, have now contributed to Obama's campaign.

We haven't heard the last of this, I promise.

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Never question the data that DCist commenters quote! It's been fleshed out by the methods that Stanton Park properly outlines:

My data was collected using the methods outlined in Anecdotes and Carefully Preselected Samples are Statistical Proof. It is almost as authoritative as Wikipedia and a favorite of bloggers, politicians and NIMBYs everywhere. It also confirms there is no such thing as global warming. Higher temperatures are the result of heat from house fires East of the Tracks.

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This week's Avatar Award for Achievement in the Field of Avatars goes to Dauragon, for the love of all things 8-bit. We're pretty sure that you were a character in Double Dragon, dude.

This week's Username of the Week goes to neveuderameau, which can only mean that at least one of our readers is well-versed in Diderot's Second Satire. Of course, now the pertinent question is: are you a Moi or a Lui? (Ah, there's nothing like deconstructing philosophical texts into US Weekly-type questions.)