Politics

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Julija Kazdailyte, 27, a public servant who is nominally Catholic like many people in Lithuania, says basketball is her country's second religion. (Christopher Johnson/Special to The Washington Times)

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Demonstrators sit and hold a sign of protest as workmen put up fencing at the Dale Farm site occupied by Irish Travelers east of London. On Monday, more than 200 people are to be evicted from the site. (Associated Press)

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Palestinian children hold posters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a rally in the village of Azmut, near the West Bank city of Nablus, on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. Mr. Abbas is set to address the United Nations this week to ask the world to recognize a Palestinian state. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

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Students shout slogans as they protest on the Sanaa University campus in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011, to show their support of a boycott of university studies as part of demonstrations demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Arabic on the billboard reads, "The resumption of school before dropping the regime is betrayal to the blood of the martyrs." (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

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**FILE** South Korean nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac (second from left) is escorted by officials upon his arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on Aug. 25, 2011, for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, on North Korea’s nuclear program. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) speaks during a weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. Also attending are Cabinet Secretary Zvi Houser (right) and Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom (left). (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill, Pool)

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** FILE ** In this May 21, 2010, file photo, American hikers Shane Bauer, left, and Josh Fattal are shown in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Press TV, File)

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** FILE ** President Obama delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Lamarque, Pool)

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President Obama looks up into the audience after speaking Sept. 14, 2011, about his American Jobs Act legislation at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. (Associated Press)

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Speaking to the Economic Club of Washington, House Speaker John A. Boehner urged the deficit supercommittee to lay the groundwork for a rewrite of the tax code. "I think tax reform should deal with the whole tax code, both the personal side and the corporate side, and it should result in a code that is simpler and fairer to everyone," he said. (Associated Press)

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Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York and Barbara Boxer of California arrive Thursday to speak to reporters about legislation funding the Federal Aviation Administration. (Associated Press)

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Washington Wizards basketball player John Wall shows off the new Wizards uniforms on Tuesday, May 10, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Exhibit: "Washington: Symbol and City" D.C. Mayor Vince Gray likely celebrated the one-year anniversary of his office with a sigh and a sip of something flat. It's been a rough year, what with allegations of bribery, cronyism, and nepotism, not to mention several small skirmishes with the Republican-led House. Gray's tenure thus far would fit neatly in a multi-volume set about the dichotomous nature of Washington, D.C., "a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm," according to President John F. Kennedy. An exhibit at the National Building Museum will suffice for laypeople. "Washington: Symbol and City" analyzes the city from its swampy roots to present: Migratory patterns into and out of the District that corresponded to wars and boom and bust cycles; the "alternative downtown" that evolved in the Shaw neighborhood after the Civil War but before the Civil Rights movement; the development of new urban planning strategies needed to organize, protect, and house a constantly growing federal government; and the chronically near-simmering tensions between Washington (where national politics happen) and D.C. (where local people live). Ongoing at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Phone: 202.272.2448. Web: www.nbm.org

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** FILE ** House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, talks about the economy during an address in D.C. at the Economic Club of Washington on Sept. 15, 2011. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** A hand-painted sign greets visitors to the Philadelphia office of then-Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign on March 5, 2008. (Associated Press)

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Libyan National Transitional Council Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril speaks with a patient at the Tripoli Medical Center in Tripoli, Libya, on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Eric Feferberg, Pool)

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A Palestinian man holds a sign protesting U.S. involvement in the Middle East, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Sept. 7, 2011. (Associated Press)

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President Obama speaks Sept. 14, 2011, at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 34th annual awards gala at the Washington Convention Center in D.C. (Associated Press)

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British Prime Minister David Cameron (center) and French President Nicolas Sarkozy (right) meet patients at the Tripoli Medical Center in Tripoli, Libya, on Sept. 15, 2011. (Associated Press)

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Former state Sen. Susan Tucker, Democrat, speaks against casino gaming at a rally outside the Statehouse in Boston, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. House Democrats caucused behind closed doors to discuss legislation that would license three resort style casinos and a slot machine parlor. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)