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Walk This Way: When a cop in Toronto said young women shouldn’t dress “like sluts” if they didn’t want to be raped, activists got both mad and even; they launched Slutwalk, a protest/mockery movement, where participants are encouraged to dress like, well, sluts, to send the message that they still have the right not to be assaulted. Now it’s gone global, and the latest Slutwalk march will be here in the District tomorrow morning. Expect slightly different garb than the usual National Mall fare of fanny packs and red, white, and blue t-shirts. +2
Where There’s Fire, There’s Smoke: The Great Dismal Swamp, in southeastern Virginia, does not sound like a particularly pleasant place; in fact, it sounds like the kind of place where you might need to watch out for ROUS-es. True to expectations, the swamp has been on fire for a week. Smoke from the blaze is now expected to arrive in the District tomorrow, reducing air quality and, we presume, generally making things a bit more dismal. -1
Name That Transfer: Metro passengers will soon be able to transfer, free of charge, between Farragut North on the Red Line and Farragut West on the Blue and Orange lines using a SmarTrip. Now the transit system, as part of its campaign to win the public back over, is asking for riders to vote on what to name the maneuver. Choices are: Free Transfer; Surface Transfer; Farragut Connect; Farragut Exchange; and Farragut Crossing, which DCist is lobbying for because there’s a place in the old “Oregon Trail” computer game with the same name. If you think about who’s likely to use Facebook to vote on such things, you will not be surprised to learn that so far, Farragut Crossing is cleaning up. +2
Braves On The Warpath: Preseason football is completely meaningless, but that won’t keep the D.C. area from investing great hopes and dreams in what kind of night Rex “Sexy Rexy” Grossman has this evening. The Washington Redskins will host the Pittsburgh Steelers at FedEx Field, in the first preseason game of the year. Labor strife had some wags expecting this game and others like it wouldn’t be played. Depending on how the team looks, we may all be wishing they were right afterwards. +3
Yesterday’s Needle rating: 59 Today’s score: +6 Friday bonus: +2 Today’s Needle rating: 67