Good morning, Washington, and welcome to Friday. There’s nothing like a nationally televised address about troop levels to put you in a mood for a sound night’s sleep heading into the weekend, isn’t there? Certainly we would never have tossed and turned contemplating the “sinister ingenuity” that allows President Bush to escalate a war and then de-escalate it a year later without ever having a plan to successfully end it, and yet be able to hand gifts like “5,700 troops home by Christmas” to Republican candidates for president. Nope, we slept just fine last night.

HPV Vaccine Debate Won’t Die: Despite having already been debated and approved in a 7 to 3 Council vote in April, the decision to require the HPV vaccine for girls entering 6th grade is once again in question, as D.C. Council members Yvette M. Alexander and Muriel Bowser say they want to repeal the law. Neither Council member had a chance to vote on the legislation, as it took place a month before they took office, and both have expressed skepticism about its wisdom. Apparently preventing cervical cancer isn’t something the Council members think is worth doing.

Report Predicts Less Healthy Air: The WaPo tips us off to a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council that tells Washington area residents they should expect an increase in the number of days with unhealthy levels of smog in the air in summers to come — this despite our air being generally cleaner than it was two decades ago. Awesome.

Briefly Noted: D.C. agency wants to investigate Verizon … Eastern High’s missing scores scrutinized … 17 suspects arrested in crystal meth ring …

This Day in DCist: In 2004 we spent some time with the Ladies of the Upper Northwest Side and in 2006 we gave Moby a hard time for talking smack about our city.

Photo by rodeomilano