As per the Washington standard, at the center of McPherson Square, just four blocks from the White House, is a bronze equestrian statue of a Union general who was killed in the battle for Atlanta. On Thursday and Friday, Occupy D.C. was contained to the quadrant northwest of the statue, with a pop-up city of a couple dozen tents and propped-up tarps on one grassy strip, facing a disorganized but useful-looking canteen and information booth. READ MORE

Every year for the past 55 years during the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby, Louisville has hosted one of the nation’s largest parades, the Pegasus Parade. Every year but one. In 1967, the parade and all the other traditional “Derby Week” events were cancelled. That year, instead of the usual festival and fanfare, tension was in the air. Civil rights protests and counter-protests had brought the city to the brink of full unrest. As race day approached, Louisville's mayor asked the governor to call in the National Guard to help police Churchill Downs. The Ku Klux Klan had announced they would also be in attendance at the race in full regalia, ready and willing to stop any potential disruption. READ MORE

Today the nation celebrates the birthday of one of its greatest spiritual leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a time for somber reflection, a time to examine how far we've come and how much we still need to do, and it is a time, of course, to speculate on what a man who died at the tender age of 39 would support or disagree with some forty years later. Would he approve of President Obama's leadership thus far? Would he be in favor of charter schools? It is obviously impossible to know, so we might as well suggest that we do without any degree of doubt. So let me just put it out there: If Dr. King were alive today we can be completely certain of one thing: He would ABSOLUTELY endorse the message behind "Pants On The Ground." Also "Jersey Shore." Of this we can be sure.