When a friend emailed to invite me to cover this past weekend's DNC protests, I had blogger visions running through my head of life-size puppets, patchouli and lots and lots of yelling. Sadly, it seems like most of the good stuff happened inside the hotel, where the protesters weren't supposed to be and I didn't try to go. But I've got your boring, ill-attended protest round-up anyway, complete with pictures of as much of the......

Sometimes you get some really strange press releases. In particular, DC Voices for Meal Choices will be staging a sit-in on April 7, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 425 13th St. NW. The subject line reads, "Shocking 'EAT-IN' supporting menu labeling in DC." Plus, there will be "PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES!" The purpose of the sit-in is in support of the DC MEAL Act, which would require any chain restaurant with more than 10 locations nationwide......

K Street, Tuesday, 5:41 p.m., photo by llunardi2 The Post is reporting that participants in today's Iraq war protests were disappointed by the turnout. What did you see? Here's some of the images that have already been uploaded to the DCist Flickr Pool. 17th Street, Wednesday, 8:44 a.m., photo by Fredo Alvarez 17th Street, Wednesday, 8:42 a.m., photo by Fredo Alvarez......

In addition to the long list of anti-war protests planned throughout the city today (we'll have some photos up from some of them later on), around 200 activists staged a "Freeze-In" protest at Union Station on Tuesday. In the video above, you can see several dozen people who "froze" in place for about a minute at 5 p.m. yesterday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. The group, situated in the middle......

As we reported last week, Georgetown residents should have been ready for some rude awakenings over the weekend -- and rude awakenings they received. The Post reported on the gathering of activists who took to the streets of Georgetown on Saturday and Sunday morning to make a point -- loudly -- about the D.C. Council's recent inaction on a bill that would place limitations on the use of amplification during demonstrations in residential neighborhoods. Led......

James Jay Lee, the man better known only as "Lee", the organizer of a lengthy protest against The Discovery Channel, has been arrested by Montgomery County police. Lee appears to have spent thousands of dollars in advertising his protest plans in publications such as the Express and hiring homeless people to beef up his presence in front of the cable network's Silver Spring headquarters. WJLA reported that Lee was arrested yesterday on charges of littering......

In case you weren't already convinced that the one-man crusade against Silver Spring's Discovery Channel, which also produced a series of ads promoting the protest in the print edition of Express, was more than a little light on widespread support, take a look at the photo above. Flickr contributor chip py the photo guy snapped this shot yesterday of a man who was paid by the organizer to join the protest.After a low turnout......

Supporters of Anonymous, the loosely organized group of internet activists who have attacked the Church of Scientology recently with videos and server hacks, appeared outside D.C.'s Founding Church of Scientology center on Sunday. The protest was part of a planned "global day of action" with the stated purpose of setting off a government investigation into how Scientology got tax-exempt status. The Feb. 10 protests, which took place in dozens of cities, were initially announced......

Sometime last week a friend of DCist sent in this rather hilarious web site promoting what appears to be a one-man crusade and protest against the Silver Spring, Md.-based Discovery Channel. As you can see, the singularly named "Lee," with his faux-tough mug shot and all-caps, is dishing out a little of the old insane rambling on the cable network to promote his "Save the Planet Protest Against the Discovery Channel," which the web site......

Which stories did DCist readers think merited the most attention this year? Top 10 Most Commented Posts of 2007 10) D.C. Judge Seeks $67 Million for Lost Pants (105 comments) 9) Columbia Heights Listserve vs. Ross (107 comments) 8) Saving the Single Beer (108 comments) 7) This City Doth Protest Too Much (109 comments) 6) Solo Marines Often Refused Entry to Some D.C. Bars (113 comments) 5) Bars Claim Loss of Business Over Smoking......

Earlier this month the Post revealed that the majority of mail sent from the District is bastardized with a postmark reading "SOUTHERN MD." or "SUBURBAN MD.," a practice imposed soon after a 2001 anthrax attack in a D.C. postal facility. District officials and voting rights activists were none-too-pleased -- after all, if they take our postmark, what's next? Our women and children? Today, the Post Office relented. Under pressure from D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton......

It was 234 years ago Sunday that American colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor as part of a symbolic protest against being taxed by the British while not having a representative in the Westminster Parliament. Yesterday District voting rights activists remembered the event by holding their own tea party, this one to protest the union's last standing example of taxation without representation. Though the wind whipped across the Potomac River, about 80 activists and......

Written by DCist Contributor Josh Kramer The Hatchet — George Washington University >>The big news at GWU this week is that Freshman Sarah Marshak, who reported six swastikas being drawn on her dorm room door's whiteboard, actually drew five of them herself, which she has now said she did to bring attention to the first incident. Marshak, who is Jewish and a former reporter for the Hatchet, was informed she will most likely be expelled.......

In an audacious presentation of political and protest art, the Katzen Arts Center’s Art of CONFRONTation showcases three separate exhibitions that share a confident outspokenness. Whether it’s the poignant reenactments of torture of Abu Ghraib by Fernando Botero, or the surreal depictions of the city-dominated human condition by Irving Norman in Dark Metropolis, or the multifaceted collection of some of the 1970s most important feminist art in Claiming Space, these works are united by a......

This brilliant photo was left out of our Zombie Lurch '07 slideshow on Monday, and thank goodness, because this has Photo of the Day written all over it. Flickr user outdoor_type gives this zombie bride an apocalyptic sepia toned home, where she can rightly protest the lack of edible brainz next to our seemingly abandoned national treasure. EXIF.......

Last night at 7 p.m., approximately 30 LGBTs and their supporters gathered inside the Rite Aid at the corner of 13th and U St. NW for a "hug-in." The event was a response to the reported ousting of a hugging gay couple by the store's manager last week. Although organizer The New Gay had asked people not to give the store any warning, the staff (and security guard) didn't seem very surprised when the......

Following up on Friday's entry about a gay couple who was kicked out of the Rite Aid at 13th and U Streets NW, the New Gay is organizing a hug-in set to take place at the store tomorrow night at 7 p.m., just before the annual 17th Street High Heel Race. If you plan to go, be sure to pledge your attendance via evite. The New Gay asks two things for everyone participating in......

After two hate crimes this fall and a foiled attempt by a student LGBT group to deliver a petition to him, Georgetown University President John DeGioia announced last night that the school will have a dedicated LGBTQ resource center by next fall. Scott Chessare, co-president of Georgetown's LGBT student group GU Pride, called the announcement a win and said to the Georgetown Voice, "I don’t think we would have believed less than two months ago......

It's not often that two hippos chase down a presidential candidate. But today two did and survived to tell the story. Voting rights activists protested outside the Washington Hilton this morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of John McCain and express their displeasure at his recent vote against cloture on voting rights legislation that would have moved legislation forward to grant the District a voting seat in the House. Among the activists were two......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

Good morning, Washington. Buried at the bottom on the Post's updated story this morning on the controversy surrounding Monday's Adams Morgan fire, which has caused Mayor Fenty and Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham to start foaming at the mouth to take WASA to task for not replacing inadequate water mains fast enough, is a little human interest nugget. Apparently fire fighters managed to recover an engagement ring left behind by one of the building's......

By DCist Contributor Sarah Stonesifer The Eagle - American: >> At American University, officials decided that an official record will be kept along with possible judicial action after students receive their "second medical transport due to alcohol consumption." So remember kids, the first case of alcohol poisoning is free. >> There was an attempted robbery in an American University dorm last Saturday, but the suspect was quickly apprehended and identified. The Hoya - Georgetown: >>......

Good morning, Washington. For the first time in almost 30 years, the Senate will take up a measure considering D.C. voting rights this afternoon, though as we explained yesterday, today's action is really just a vote to consider giving us the vote in the House, not the actual vote to give us the vote. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who will take public transportation all day today in honor of Car Free D.C. Day, announced he will......

Although 192 protesters were arrested Saturday during the March to End the War and competing counter-protest by the Gathering of Eagles, by most measures turnout was low. The Post's Marc Fisher notes in his column that the small numbers of people who marched over the weekend is more a measure of a lack of enthusiasm for protesting in this country, rather than a lack of strong feelings against the war -- just visit any popular......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

Marc Fisher: As the Senate gets ready to debate the District voting rights legislation, Fisher lists the dozen top reasons why senators from both parties should vote to enfranchise the city's residents. The more and more we look into it, the better the case looks. Let's hope the Senate agrees. Tom Knott: You know Knott's verbal insanity is in good form when the title of his weekly column is "It's Gathering of Eagles vs. nitwit......

The recent antics of the anti-war ANSWER Coalition, including pasting signs on utility boxes advertising their planned protest this Saturday on the National Mall despite orders from the city not to, resulting in several arrests and thousands of dollars in fines, haven't won the group many new fans among locals. Even though the District is a heavily liberal town populated by people who mainly agree with their stand on the war, ANSWER's attitude toward the......

You may have already heard about the small group of ANSWER Coaltion members who staged a lunchtime event Thursday to protest the District's attempts to get them to stop gluing posters on to utility boxes. Two demonstrators, one an Iraq war veteran and the other the mother of another veteran, were arrested on charges of defacing public property. DCist Tom stumbled on to the scene and snapped these images with his phone -- it's......

>> Little children don't like President Bush. [YouTube, embedding sadly turned off] >> Director Ridley Scott set off a bomb at Eastern Market yesterday, but Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio were not there, so stop asking us about it. [Reliable Source] >> A U.S. Park Police officer reportedly shot and wounded a driver on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Riverdale this afternoon. [WaPo] >> The FBI has launched a new Web site, BankBandits.com, in an......

The six protesters at American University who were recently charged with crossing a police line and disorderly conduct for blocking the path of Karl Rove's car (seen above) will pay $100 fines to settle the charges. As we mentioned earlier, arrest warrants were issued by the Secret Service for the protesters only last week, many months after the original April 3 incident and long after the students involved had served the 40 hours of......