Capitol Pill is a feature which tracks contraception access in D.C. pharmacies.

Rite Aid, 1306 U St. NW (and various). (202) 328-8761.

With over 4,900 drugstores in 31 states and the District of Columbia, Rite Aid’s chain of pharmacies stands to dispense a lot of birth control. It’s also prepared for contraception hang-ups. Rite Aid spokesperson Cheryl Slavinsky says that the chain has policies in place to comply with all state and federal regulations for dispensing medication—and deal with those employees who hold moral or religious beliefs against providing contraception.

Read the rest of “Capitol Pill: Rite Aid” »

Welcome back to the Manliest Workplace in D.C. Tournament. The winner of the legal bracket will be decided today, as the arsenal of partners at Arnold & Porter faces off against the hired guns at Jones Day. (See the full 64-workplace bracket here). Will Arnie and Port be found guilty of employing an all-powerful percentage of manly men? Or will Jonesie be indicted for butt-slapping in the boys club? Could any lawyer possibly surpass the manly standard set by the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer character (right), as portrayed by the late Phil Hartman on NBC’s seminal sketch comedy program, “Saturday Night Live�? Never!

Read the rest of “Man Madness: Arnold & Porter Vs. Jones Day” »

Yesterday, Vasile Graure was convicted on thirteen counts—including assault with intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, arson, and mayhem—in connection with the fire that ravaged Glover Park strip club Good Guys last year. A sentencing hearing in the case won’t be held until Jan. 13 of next year, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia provided some information about the statutory maximum sentences for each of Graure’s charges:

Read the rest of “Good Guys Trial: What Graure Could Face” »

Yesterday, Connecticut’s Bristol Press published an op-ed by Alicia Watkins, a District resident-turned-Bristol columnist. The piece, titled “‘Take responsibility’ not effective answer,” detailed why Watkins was against abortion, but supported its legality. Fine. But while Watkins’ piece—targeted at the pro-life set—argued for keeping abortion legal and accessible, it also suggested that women who aren’t opposed to the practice are “wicked,” “evil,” and even “fictional.”

I’m against abortion. But then, I don’t know anyone who considers herself “forâ€� abortion. To my knowledge, I’ve never met a woman who was happy about having one. I suspect these women are fictional, like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny—only, you know, evil.

Yoo-hoo, Alicia. Over here. Me. I’m not against abortion. And the only reason that I wouldn’t say that I’m “for” abortion is because I don’t value any pregnant woman’s choice over another.

Read the rest of “Is Abortion Wrong?” »

In another life, one that ended as many as three months ago, I wrote a column called Show & Tell for a newspaper called the Washington City Paper which focused on goings-on in the local arts and entertainment scene. One of the last columns I wrote—and one of my favorites—was about a guy named Derrick Nowlin. Nowlin, a Prince enthusiast and martial arts bad-ass, has been working for years trying to get known for what he does best: doing push-ups on broken glass, front-kicking basketball nets, and mastering one-inch punches that can send a man so hard into a wimpy plaster drywall that it necessitates a call to maintenance. You know, typical bad-ass stuff.

If you’d like to get to know Nowlin, he’ll be performing tomorrow in Alexandria. Details after the jump.

Read the rest of “Kick Ass!” »

Welcome back to the Manliest Workplace in D.C. Tournament. This week, the long arm of the law has its strength tested as D.C.’s biggest law firms compete for man dominance. Today, the local partners of Williams & Connolly take on the upper-level lawyers at Hogan & Hartson (See the full 64-workplace bracket here). Will Williams, Connolly, Hogan, or Hartson have what it takes to claim the mantle of eternal manliness from the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer character (right), as portrayed by the late Phil Hartman on NBC’s seminal sketch comedy program, “Saturday Night Liveâ€�? Court is now in session!

Read the rest of “Man Madness: Williams & Connolly Vs. Hogan & Hartson” »

Oh, Sarah Palin, now that you are not threatening to become my pre-President, I can truly appreciate the ridiculousness of your existence. Watching this video, I imagine a world where all political interviews are filmed in front of horrific backgrounds that relate nothing to the topic of discussion. I would point you all to a time stamp in this three-minute charade, but honestly, it’s all good.

The jury returned its verdict today in the trial of Vasile Graure, the truck driver accused of setting fire to Glover Park strip club Good Guys last year. Graure was convicted of the following charges:

- Three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed

- Four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon

- One count of aggravated assault while armed

- One count of mayhem while armed

- Two counts of burglary in the second degree while armed

- One count of arson

- One count of felony destruction of property

Graure’s sentencing hearing will be held in January.

As a non-man who is nevertheless quite interested in the pursuit of manliness, I was interested to try the Genderanalyzer—which “uses Artificial Intelligence to determine if a homepage is written by a man or woman.” Last time I plugged the Sexist into the Genderanalyzer, it told me I wrote like a dude. I basked for several seconds in the news, believing that I had fooled this widget through my progressive, gender-bending style of blogging. Then I plugged Danielle Steele into the analyzer. Turns out she writes like a dude, too.

Now, it looks like this ye olde online gender identity crystal ball is beginning to get rather specific. The analyzer—which I’m not convinced isn’t entirely bogus—can now determine the dudeliness of your blog down to the percentage point. Just how manly am I?

Read the rest of “I Am Seventy Percent Man” »

Chris Farris and Todd Metrokin, co-chairs of local activist group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), are questioning U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor’s handling of the Tony Hunter case. In September, Hunter died from injuries he sustained in an altercation outside Shaw gay bar BeBar; Last month, Robert Hannah was arrested in relation to Hunter’s death and charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case.

In a letter addressed to Taylor, Farris and Metrokin criticized the attorney’s office’s assertion that “Mr. Hunter’s death stemmed from an ‘altercation’ with the defendant that the victim sexually assaulted the defendant prior to the defendant’s attacking him.” The GLOV representatives called the allegation “absurd,” unsupported and against “common sense.”

“[G]ay men do not approach random men on street corners and grab their crotches—to believe this version of events, based solely on the self-serving words of someone facing murder charges, is to succumb to homophobic bias,” the letter reads.

GLOV’s full letter is after the jump.

Read the rest of “Gay Rights Activists Question U.S. Attorney on Tony Hunter Case” »