http://uspublicserviceacademy.org America Deserves Our Best Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:23:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It’s been a pretty slow week in Washington — with Congress in recess, the rest of the kids want to go play, as well. We’re all looking forward to the Fourth and the attendant days of R-and-R (Aretha will be performing on the Mall, so my mom and sister and ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/07/01/happy-fourth-of-july-from-the-academy/ While the end of June often means just a countdown to the Fourth’s long weekend (two more days!) it’s a good time for other things as well. After all, we’re now halfway through 2009 — time to take stock of what’s happened so far. It’s been a pretty good six months ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/30/mid-year-resolutions/ This article in the NYTimes last week pointed out a trend that's un-ordinary but not unexpected The significant increase in applications that military academies saw last year.  Seriously. West Point's applicant pool went up 9.6 percent, the Naval Academy's pool increased by 40 percent, the Air Force Academy's went up by ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/22/military-academies-see-applications-rise-whats-that-mean/ So our fabulous boss Chris was just named to the New Leaders Council's  40 under 40. In fact, he is the first thirtysomething listed. One might argue that this is because his last name starts with A, but we here prefer to think it is because of his awesomeness. Leave ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/19/chriss-fabulousness-acknowledged-by-world/ It's been an exciting couple of days here at the Academy. In the past two days, we've had seven fabulous Congresspeople sign on as co-sponsors, signaling that they understand how important a Public Service Academy is. They are, in no particular order: Maxine Waters, Steve Israel, Maurice Hinchey, Raul Grijalva, ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/17/snowballing-support/ Last week, Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" broadcast his show from Baghdad, Iraq in conjunction with the USO.  I am a faithful viewer of "The Daily Show" and love Mr. Colbert, but I have to admit, his show is not in my DVR queue.  I sneak a ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/15/military-service-and-civil-service-one-in-the-same/ This Sunday, we held our Sitar Yoga event, and it was such a success! The soft words of yoga instructor Kat Archana encouraged us to stretch and relax our bodies and minds as Thievery Corporation’s Rob Myers (bit of trivia: he and Chris are brothers!) provided a peaceful, open atmosphere ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/15/sitar-yoga-event-om-mazing/ I read an interesting article here  that reflected what I’ve noticed, both at school and in my first few weeks of Washington (and, let it be known: I go to Penn, where the Wharton School is, and everybody and their roommate thinks about a Wall Street career). Basically, the gist of ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/12/what-better-time/            This week — as the weather alternated between flash flooding and the kind of sweltering, sweaty temperatures that makes the heat devils dance — four new interns took refuge in the U.S. Public Service Academy’s office space at 13th and I streets in D.C. While ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/06/10/the-2009-summer-interns-have-arrived/ This week, a number of high school students from the Freire Charter School in Philadelphia came south to the nation's capital to engage in some old-fashioned democratic action. They were in town to tell their representative, Rep. Chaka Fattah, that they wanted him to support the Public Service Academy bill. ... http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2009/05/22/old-fashioned-democracy/