Your Electronic Backfencedc.story is presented in association with Washington’s News Station WTOP-1500 AM and 94.3 FM. ***With your help, WTOP has already raised $80,000 this year, for "A Place for the Kids"*** Your tax-deductible donation is being used to rebuild the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Clubhouse No. 2 at 2nd & M, NW—right off New York Avenue. Contributions may be sent to "A Place for the Kids." WTOP Radio, 3400 Idaho Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 All proceeds—every penny—go to the effort. -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Dear Neighbors: I can imagine the dilemma of the consultant’s brought in to study the major functions of the DC government? How can we find something positive to say? Taxpayers must have spent at least a couple of hundred thousand dollars in management fees while MBAs solved that conundrum. That’s money well spent. It’s cheaper than blocking the major exit points of the city, or is it only the lemmings who remain? Philosophy is cheap but after coming through the Executive/Legislative "Bail-Out" package — which I think will leave as much a mark on the city as Milli and Vanilli — I believe the Philosophers in charge have to make some crucial decisions. My strong libertarian instincts, honed by 13 years of government service, tell me that legislators shouldn’t be allowed to enact an law until they spend six months administering it. We’d have fewer laws and better laws. My statist instincts, however, tell me that government is so apparently obvious that government is necessary and can work that George Will and Jim Glassman need to have their noses rubbed in success stories from time to time. Often the problem is that government is administered in a boneheaded way by boneheaded people. And we keep electing them to office in this city. The crucial job for the Control Board will be to determine what can be fixed and what needs to tossed. I’ll concede the previous sentence ranks high as a platitude but I’ve seen little evidence that it’s being followed. Next: The Control Board members? Who should stay and who should go? What do you think? ***** Mark your calendars for October 27 at 7:30 PM — and please, if you can, respond to me AND the DC/JCC as soon as possible — today as possible. I need time to order food. It’s time for another face-to-face greeting. Moreover, this year Fred Siegel will be joining us from Brooklyn to talk about his new book about the District, LA, and New York — *The Future Once Happened Here.* John Leo calls it *The best book about cities in decades.* Michael Barone, known for the annual *An Almanac of American Politics* will introduce Fred. Our group gathering will take place at the DC Jewish Community Center, located on 16th and Q Streets, NW. The facility can handle the larger crowd we expect for this gathering. The cost is $12 for members of the DC/JCC and $15 for non-members. To reserve a spot with the DC/JCC call 202.518.9400 and ask for extension 269. In addition, please send me an email RSVP at story@intr.net so I know how much food to order. -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Fresh Fields presents a pre-Halloween reading from the works of Edgar Allen Poe by the Georgetown Theatre Company on Saturday, October 25 at 5:00 p.m. FREE !Fresh Fields Georgetown (Cafe), 2323 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Seating is limited. Please arrive early. For more information, call 202-333-5393. -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ In this issue of dc.story, I’ve learned more about DC traffic than I ever wanted to. Since preparing this issue, I have sold my car, purchased a Humvee, and enrolled in counter terrorist driving instruction. If this strategy fails, I am prepared to move into the Metro. It’s a lot scarier on the road than I thought. Cheers, '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' It Takes a Village One of those heartwarming stories: At midday on Thursday, October 16, a toddler, all alone, walked out of a story hour at the Cleveland Park Library and made her way north on Connecticut Avenue, then turned west on Newark Street. By that point two separate people had noticed and were watching over her. A woman left her car at the stop sign and scooped up the young’un .A man asked all nearby adults if they knew the child, then headed for the library to inquire further. A couple with their two children got involved. After several minutes, a young woman with another child in tow strolled out of the library and said she was the lost child’s caretaker (but not very good at it, in my opinion). Thanks to all who helped keep this from becoming a Washington Post story. P.S. Any parents who think this may have been their children and nanny are welcome to contact me (301-961-8788) for further description. ****** The Bergman Awards I nominate Phil Mendelson as the "Boss" for all the hard work he’s done for his own ward and all 7 others. He is an activist at heart but also an effective negotiator and gets things done. I nominate the US Congress for the "John McMillan"—for taking away what little democracy DC had. The ironies abound—why do we help little third world countries achieve "democracy" and take it away from DC? My theory is that the US government, like most people or institutions—has a dark side that not only is the opposite of all the beautiful ideals, but likes to trample on them and be an outright bully. The dark side gets worse when we don’t acknowledge it and pretend we’re still being the idealistic, giving, noble beings we want others to view us as. ***** Margie Siegel masiegel@consultingwomen.com How can there be just one John McMillan award? This year it seems that the list could be endless — beginning with senator Faircloth, Rep. Taylor, Hizzoner, our Mayor for Life (I hope not), the City Council etc. How can you possibly select just one, especially with such an embarrassment of riches from whom to choose? ****** School Vouchers Jason Juffras’ irrelevant attack on the "Republicans’" school voucher plan makes me wonder. Why are some people so frightened that the voucher system might be tried out? What is the downside? My guess is that they are afraid that the program will be successful, and the NEA will be in the toilet. Jason implies as much when he focuses on the salary differences between private and public school teachers. A little thought about why private school teachers are willing to accept such lower salaries might give some insight about what is wrong with the public system. Please don’t tell me it is the students. Some argue that merely experimenting would irreparably harm the public schools. How the DC public system could serve parents and children any worse than it already does is a mystery to me. I don’t think that this sufficiently explains the fear and vociferous opposition to any experimentation with private education for those who couldn’t otherwise afford it. What’s so bad about giving a few working people the opportunity to stiff the public schools like the Clinton’s did? ***** What’s Fair? Philip Murphy either misunderstands the concept of fairness, or is just a plain vanilla elitist. I’ll try to explain it again, in simple terms. Vouchers take money and the best students out of the public school system. This _hurts_ the schools and the students left, who are the majority. If fairness has to be distributed, it should go to the majority, shouldn’t it Mr. Murphy? ***** Ken Nellis nellisks@aol.com Regarding school vouchers, Philip Murphy asks, "Why not just give vouchers a try? If they fail, then the status quo defenders get to say I told you so. If they work, then a whole lot of disadvantaged kids get a shot at upward mobility, maybe their last one. Isn’t that worth the risk?" The opponents of school vouchers are not interested in being able to say "I told you so" to proponents of a bad concept. The concept is bad because it argues that we are not committed to providing quality public education. It is saying that we give up on public education and here’s some help for parents to try to do better in the open market. The voucher system would take away badly needed money from public education. It’s kind of like the absurdity that DC government faces where DC says (rightly or wrongly) that they need more money to provide services while congress’s response is to penalize DC for not providing these services by reducing funding. Would Mr. Murphy support congress in efforts to penalize DC just to give it a try? If it fails, we could all say, "I told you so!" ***** Striping on Connecticut Avenue The street stripers missed a key part of their repaint job after (part of) Connecticut Avenue was resurfaced — they forgot to paint in the arrows at the point where cars are supposed to switch lanes during rush hour. Thus lower Connecticut (near the Zoo) and upper Connecticut (near Chevy Chase Circle) are incredibly dangerous as people guess where to switch lanes. ***** Legality of U-turns It was explained to me by a cop, as he wrote a ticket, that U-turns are illegal in DC when there is a double yellow line down the middle of the road, and otherwise legal if it is legal to drive in the opposite direction on that road. Of course that still leaves the gray area of how to proceed when the road is supposed to have a double stripe but has not been painted! **** Leslie Ruskin Shanti.Ruskin@LMCO.Com The DC rules state that U-Turns are permitted unless otherwise posted. However, if any accident occurs which involves a car making a u-turn, the car which made the u-turn is always at fault. I hope this clears up this matter. ****** The Circle Game Let’s stop going round and round in the circle game and do as the Bostonians do: play "Chicken." ****** Buckle Up, D.C.! Take note: The District of Columbia now has the strictest seat belt law in the nation. The fine for not wearing a belt is $50, with points off your license. In addition, the driver is held responsible for the seat belt use of passengers. (An exception is made for taxi drivers carrying paying fares.) It is easy to determine from the outside of a vehicle if the driver is belted. Since most trips involve only the driver and there is a strong correlation between driver and passenger belt use, it is likely that mainly drivers will be checked. Those who whine about how the government restricts their right to turn themselves into paraplegics should remember that the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that your car is not your home. Seat belt laws are 100 percent constitutional. In addition, those who think the police should "go after real criminals" may not realize that traffic enforcement *is* law enforcement. In Grand Prairie, Texas, 37 percent of all felony arrests during a traffic blitz were made as the result of traffic stops. Effective traffic enforcement has repeatedly been shown to reduce crime. While enforcement of the new belt law will probably not be Draconian, the police *will* give people tickets. There is a very easy way to avoid a citation: Buckle up. ***** Buckle Up David Sobelsohn inquired about the enforcement of primary seat belt laws in other states. A primary seat belt law just went into effect in Maryland, and while I cannot attest to its enforcement, I can report that on the day the law went into effect there was a county policeman standing in the median strip on Bradley Blvd. where it intersects with Arlington Road in Bethesda handing out warnings. Also, my wife was in San Diego recently for a conference, and both she and one of her colleagues were severely chastised — but not ticketed — by a city cop for not wearing their belts, in violation of California law. ***** Probably Why He’ll Be Cancelled…Jeff Lins garath@mindspring.com The past two weeks I have caught "Dellaventura" on TV, and every time he has gotten into his car, he has failed to fasten his seat belt. I just thought I’d mention it. ******** Asleep at the Wheel? Maybe I slept through this one, but… I just came from the SW Inspection Center where I find that I am not one week late, but fifty-one weeks early in getting my car inspected. When did DC start using two year inspection stickers? Has this anything to do with the fact that I registered for two years instead of one? It is not a new car, but a 1991 Geo. ================= ***For information re advertising, contact Jan Genzer—the dc.story marketing maven—at Oltjan@aol.com or 202/364-0383.*** ================= dc.queries Ask George Harrison? I’m leaving for a few months in Bangladesh at the end of this month. Anyone out there ever been? Have any tips to share before I go? I’d love to hear some first-hand info. Jean Freeman FreeJean@AOL.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.events Wednesday, 22 October. 7 p.m. Book Signing and Refreshments. 8 p.m. Lecture. Education Building. National Zoo. Enter at Connecticut Ave. Park in Lot A. Free, but please RSVP by calling (202) 673-4801 or sending email to nzpem053@sivm.si.edu. Mark Garland, author of The Audubon Naturalist Society’s popular Nature Watch column, presents an autumnal look at Mid-Atlantic natural history. His slide-illustrated lecture will highlight this region’s gentle beauty, found not only within a few hours of Washington but right at our back door. Before the lecture, Garland will sign copies of his new paperback, "Watching Nature: A Mid-Atlantic Natural History." Margie Gibson NZPEM053@SIVM.SI.EDU (202) 673-4866 ***** Get ready for Halloween! On Saturday, October 25 Washington Storytellers Theatre will present Bobby Norfolk in a program called Halloween Tales & More. In this high-energy split program for adults, Norfolk will tell tales of the supernatural from African, Hispanic American and Anglo-Horror traditions, as well as his own unique mix of poetry, political satire and personal stories. This program takes place at 8 PM the Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda. Tickets are $10, $8 for members, seniors and students. Call 301/891-1129 for information or tickets. Robert Revere rajai@erols.com http:www.writer.org/Storyteller/default.htm ***** Metro Washington Community Indicators Project invites you to our sixth Public Issue Forum: Economic Security in Metro Washington: Indicators and Strategies for a Sustainable Region. Tuesday, October 21, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Location: Friends of the Earth, 3rd Floor. 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC. (Near McPherson Square metro stop.) Come join Michael Shuman from the Institute for Policy Studies, and Neil Seldman from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in a public discussion on goals, strategies and methods for measuring progress to achieve economic security for the communities of the Metro Washington region. For information call (202) 872-5339 or (202) 872-5329. Eileen Hanlon ehanlon@smtp.aed.org '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.market Job Opening: Your humble moderator Jeffrey Itell is seeking to hire someone 30 to 40 hours per week initially to write, proof, and lightly research a performing arts guide for Washington, DC. The position is in Rockville but two-steps from the Metro. Please send me an email at story@intr.net. ******* Free Vacation, No Strings Attached: Believe it or not, I never ditched my $329 worth of credit to the Harley Farms Bed and Breakfast in Deep Creek Lake. The credit expires on November 15. The hang up is that the credit is not being honored for Friday and Saturday night. But if you want to go, the treat’s on me. Call the B&B (which is really like an Inn) directly at (301) 387-9050 and make a reservation, mentioning my credit, of which they are all too aware. I can’t use the credit, but I would hate to see it go to waste. ***** Office space to sublet in Georgetown directly across from Key Bridge. Clean, safe, quiet, and lots of natural light. $450 a month/obo. Call 202-337-0037. Joey Marks jmarks@pop.erols.com ****
RECEPTIONIST needed for Tyson’s Corner PR firm. Must be pleasant with a great phone manner and able to handle busy phone system. Computer skills (Word Perfect) preferred. Experience required. Fax resume to 703-827-0783. Attn: Shannon.Jim Buie jimbuie@us.net ***** Seeking reliable roofer in Montgomery County (Rockville, Olney area). Please call me at 202-482-1984, or send me an e-mail. Phil Greene pgreene@doc.gov '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Also free! dc.movie. Free movie passes, short movie reviews, and movie discussion. Send an email message to story@intr.net to subscribe. -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ dc.story is a discussion group. The opinions stated are the sole responsibility of the authors. dc.story does not verify information provided by readers. Kibitzing by Jeffrey Itell. Copyright © 1997 All rights reserved. |
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