The Terrorist Victory
Dear Washingtonians:
After yesterday's terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, most of our concerns about daily life and local government can
seem petty by comparison. Our problems are not those of the stoic New
York City paramedic at the World Trade Center site, interviewed on CBS,
who said, “We're just here to help patients,” and then, choking back
tears, said, “but we can't find any patients.” This brief issue of
themail reflects that — most messages were sent before Tuesday, and
few have been received since then. But yesterday's events will have a
tremendous effect on all our lives, and if any of you want to write to
your fellow Washingtonians about the impact on your and your neighbors'
lives, please use themail to do so.
A few years ago, David Brinkley published Everybody Is Entitled to
My Opinion, a collection of the short musings with which he closed
the ABC News program, “This Week with David Brinkley.” One of those
pieces was a recollection from his early days in Washington. Brinkley
was driving down Pennsylvania Avenue in an open convertible when a
sudden shower began, so he pulled into an oval driveway to get under a
porch canopy. Once he was under the canopy, a butler came out from the
house to help him put up his convertible's roof, and then waved to him
as he drove away from the White House. Today, none of us is free to
drive up the White House driveway; none of us is free to drive on
Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House. Brinkley's story strikes us as
a nostalgic look at a lost age of civility and freedom.
When we enter a government building, federal or local, we are treated
as suspects, as potentially dangerous, and we have come to accept that
as normal. Some of us even feel that the restrictions and the
limitations and the searches and the x-rays and the questioning are
reassuring and comforting. Tomorrow and in the days to come, there will
be calls for us to surrender more liberties, in the forlorn hope that
closing our society and limiting our movements can make us a safe and
secure nation. This morning, President Bush spoke a few words that have
given me the most hope that I have had in the past two days: “We will
not allow this enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or
restricting our freedoms.” We mourn the deaths of thousands of people
in yesterday's terrorist attacks, but the killing of thousands of people
and the destruction of buildings is a tragedy caused by terrorists, not
a terrorist victory. Making our society less free and more like theirs
— that would be the terrorist victory.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Public Schools Overspending
Richard Schmitt, seabsct@smart.net
I am a cynic, I admit it. The Washington Post reports that the
Public Schools' payroll manager and assistant manager have been
terminated due to the $80 million overspending (September 8, page A20).
The immediate issue for the education of the District's children is
whether the Board of Education has made sure that lower echelon school
employees are capable of producing the payroll checks for the school
teachers. Or, if the employees are not able to perform the task, have
the responsible parties initiated the process to retain short term
workers or consultants to get the payroll checks to the teachers while
replacements are hired?
This concern springs to mind because the Public School administration
seems to always have excuses instead of acting to accomplish tasks. The
Washington Post editorial unfortunately does not immediately dismiss the
false accusation that special education recipients and the courts are
the cause of the cost overruns. The problem is the Public Schools' long
term unwillingness to provide special education to students or to
properly administer the programs. It is troubling that students have to
resort to the courts to obtain the education to which they are entitled.
It is sad that the president of the School Board, as well as the
Public School administration, blame those who need special education.
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Accountability Never
Anne Heutte, Brookland, heuttea@earthlink.net
Well, I have no notion of how to make the powers who run things be
accountable to the amorphous mass of us, but I do celebrate the fact
that all over this city we are neighborhoods. Once, a friend of mine
asked me: where can I find a community? I said: You have to make one. We
are doing it here in the most neglected political jurisdiction in the
U.S of A.. So keep complaining.
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“If You Can Keep Your Head. . .
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
. . . while all about you are losing theirs. . . ,” wrote Kipling.
Here are the subject lines and total texts of two E-mails sent yesterday
to the employees at One Judiciary Square. At 10:17 a.m., Chief of Staff
Kelvin Robinson wrote, under the subject “Emergency,” “ALL
EMPLOYEES PLEASE EVACUATE BUILDING NOW!!!!!” At 10:20 a.m., City
Administrator John Koskinen replied, under the title, “Re:
Emergency,” “I agree that everyone not in a sensitive position
should leave. However, we need to keep the government functioning and
anyone providing a needed service for us to respond should stay
available. Many thanks.”
Kipling ended the poem “If” with the phrase, “you’ll be a
Man, my son!”
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Having observed the city's tree plantings over the years in my
neighborhood and also along Connecticut Avenue near Van Ness where I
formerly worked, I have concluded that most of the dead saplings are
those planted in the spring. The few spring plantings that have survived
either were planted in a rare year when we had plentiful summer rains or
had the good fortune to have a guardian angel with a long garden hose.
Most arborists recommend planting trees in the fall since roots get
better established in cool weather. But city contractors continue to do
much of their planting in the spring, just in time for our annual summer
drought. If they insist on doing that, then at least the city should add
a watering clause to their contract. While it's nice that some residents
adopt a tree and see that it gets sufficient water, the overall public
good of having a stable citywide tree cover should not depend on the
willingness or ability of individual residents to assume responsibility
for a particular tree's well-being.
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A tree across the street has been marked by someone with a white
painted dot. Does anyone know what this might mean and who one should
contact about it? Since I've been nursing this admittedly sickly tree
back to health, I'd be more than a bit disappointed if the mark
indicates some plan for removal. Several years ago, I had successfully
returned another tree in the public space back to health only to come
home one day and find that it had been cut down because of an imagined
disease. Thanks in advance to anyone with info about this.
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Gary, unfortunately you're on the mark with your analysis [of
utilities' customer service]. “Deregulation” has led us to where we
are at the present time. I was recently in Harper's Ferry and stopped to
call my wife, at home in DC. I dialed 0 and then my home number, using
my AT&T calling card, and spoke for just one single minute. I just
got a bill from Verizon with LD services billed on behalf of First Call
Communications, Inc., the private LD service provider in that area of
West Virginia. A one minute call was billed at $10.59, +.36 Fed Tax, +
1.57 for “UNIV SVC FND”; a total of $12.52 for that minute! I called
to complain and was told that this level of charge had the approval of
the FCC! With this level of “rip-off” we need to think about going
towards Ralph Nader's consumer cooperatives like his “Buyers Up”
coop for home heating oil. I remain skeptical regarding meaningful
government help, considering that the DC Council rescinded statutory
consumer protection during the fiscal crisis. What else can I say?
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Speed Traps in themail
Michael Bindner, mbindnerdc@aol.com
Ed T. Barron suggests speed traps on Delcarlia Parkway. I agree with
him. The problem is, it is unlawful for the MPD to hide police cars. An
officer in the traffic division told me that doing so was prohibited and
that the patrol cars must be in full view. That would at least slow the
traffic. To the extent that we have automatic cameras ticketing
speeders, we should do it there.
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In response to Greg Jones's query in the September 9 edition: the
storms washed away part of the bridge [at 27th Street and Broadbranch
Road, NW]. It's not really passable by auto now. I'm not sure whether
repair duties fall to the District or the Park Service, but whoever is
in charge is making no visible effort to fix it. I don't know what the
holdup is. When I'm feeling charitable I figure that they're using the
time to consider installing an entirely new bridge, rather than just
patch up the old one, which was awfully narrow and showing its age to
boot. (Though I sort of liked it that way.)
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An Incredible Response
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
From my 5th floor office in Brooklyn, I could see the top of the
World Trade Center buildings early last Tuesday morning. That scene is
no longer there. The tragic attack brought an immediate emergency
response by all uniformed services and medical facilities. The response
of the emergency services personnel in this huge city was phenomenal in
both quality and amount. But, the most wonderful outpouring of
volunteers doing what they could to help across the entire city,
actually brought tears to my eyes. As people with breathing masks
streamed across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Brooklyn from Lower
Manhattan they were met by volunteers offering sandwiches and cups of
bottled water.
The subways stopped for several hours on Tuesday and when they
reopened there were transit police holding doors open for free entry to
all riders. The lines to give blood at Red Cross and other donation
centers are long at all times of the day and into the late evening
hours. That will continue for several days. It is very eerie in Lower
Manhattan and Greenwich Village. There are absolutely no cars on the
streets as late as Wednesday at mid day. Things are slowly getting back
to normal in the rest of the city. It is an incredible display of
compassion, resilience and grit on the part of the residents of this big
city as they respond to the crisis.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
The Fairfax County Public Library invites you to an afternoon of
Latin music, dance, and storytelling starting at 1:00 on September 16 on
the Herndon Green near the Herndon Fortnightly Library. This event
celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month with performances
highlighting the traditions of countries such as El Salvador, Venezuela,
Guatemala, and Bolivia. This program is free; for more information call
703-437-8855 or check the Library's Web site at www.co.fairfax.va.us/library.
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CityDance Ensemble
Alan Salgado, alan@y3h.org
If you have never been to a modern dance repertory, here's a chance
to see one up close, just one week before their full concert opening at
the Kennedy Center! CityDance Ensemble, Your 3 Hosts, and DC One
Magazine invite you to an open dress rehearsal performance at The Saint
, 1520 14th Street, NW, this coming Monday, September 17, from 6 p.m. to
10 p.m., performance to start at around 7 p.m. Live music provided by
Bottomland. All Proceeds to benefit my Leukemia Society Campaign: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/marketing/manandwoman/salgado.html.
$10 donation at the door. There will be an hors d'oeuvres buffet
provided by the BA Lounge Restaurant, and the first cocktail is
complimentary. Visit http://www.citydance.net
for more info on this fabulous dance company. Space is very limited as
the performance requires ample space. You can RSVP and pay in advance
on-line. To ensure your $10 donation goes directly to the Leukemia
Society, visit http://prodpub.wavesys.com/cw/donations.asp?charity=leukemia
and make sure to select SALGADO, ALAN on the drop down menu to the lower
left on the form. Put my E-mail address, alan@y3h.org,
in the bottom center box and I will make sure you are on the list at the
door. Print a receipt and bring it to make sure. Please E-mail me for
more info or to RSVP. CityDance will have their full concert performance
at the Kennedy Center on September 25, at 7:30 p.m. $5 of each ticket
purchased online at http://www.kennedy-center.org/tickets
will benefit the Leukemia Society as well.
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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES
Can you answer when people ask you about your house or building
history? When it was built, who built it, who lived there, and what they
did? Ever wondered when that rear addition was added or your fence
repaired? Find out! A professional house history narrative, complete
with copies of your building permit, deeds, wills, maps, and sometimes
even historic photographs. A terrific and unusual gift for the upcoming
holiday season!
Our prices range from $535 to $735 for the average DC townhouse. Call
or contact us with your address for a free estimate, or visit http://www.WashingtonHistory.com.
Many happy themail customers served! Kelsey & Associates, 462-3389.
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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
Tutors for Teens, Thursdays 6:45-8:15 p.m.
Susan Ousley, Slousley@aol.com
Community Club, at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, started our
40th year last week. We usually work, one-with-one, with 150 students,
and newcomers generally trickle in after school is well started. But
last Thursday almost 40 new students appeared! We need more tutors! We
are looking for tutors who can work with 7th-12th graders once a week on
homework and be reliable, available friends/mentors. We ask that you
commit at least a year, but most tutors stay with their students until
graduation and remain lifelong friends.
Next orientation is 8/13 at 6:15 p.m. sharp, 5th floor, 1313 New York
Avenue, NW. To read more, see http://www.nyapc.org. To ask questions,
call Co-Director Dave Brown 484-8626.
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CLASSIFIEDS — OOPS
I made an arrangement through themail with a young lady named
Isabella for our organization to sell her some clipboards and panels. I
unfortunately have lost her contact information. Isabella, please
contact me at matthew@stand.org.
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