Core Values
Dear Valued Correspondents:
My apologies to WTOP’s Chris Core for using his catch phrase as the
title of this issue of themail. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton broadcast
a press release today praising herself for removing all riders from the
DC appropriations bill in the House of Representatives. Early press
reports have followed her spin, saying she has achieved a great thing
and advanced the cause of DC self governance in lifting the various
federal restrictions on DC laws. Here are the riders that Norton takes
credit for removing: a rider forbidding the District from using federal
funds to pay for needle exchange programs to facilitate the use of hard,
injectible drugs by drug addicts; a rider that forbade the government
from legalizing marijuana for “medicinal” uses; a rider that
prevented the District from using local funds to provide free abortions;
and a rider that prevented the District from using federal funds to pay
for domestic partnership registration and benefits.
Individually, an argument could be made for each of these policies,
but can anyone in city government understand the picture of this city
that these four top priorities give to outsiders? We are a city whose
core values, whose major issues, are making it easier and safer to use
hard drugs, legalizing soft drugs, making abortions free, and getting
the feds to subsidize domestic partnerships. Yeah, that’s really going
to advance the cause of getting full Congressional representation or
statehood for the District. Let’s publicize our victory and our
priorities far and wide, for that will surely convince middle America
that DC is the kind of place that represents its values.
The advent of “medical” marijuana will have the biggest effect on
DC; eliminating the other riders simply lets us stick the feds with the
bills. I’ve been putting “medical” into quotation marks because in
practice most marijuana isn’t distributed to late-stage cancer
patients, but to tokers who say they’re feeling a bit peckish. For a
quick lesson in how “medical” marijuana distribution has been
working in Los Angeles, read the articles by Patrick Range McDonald and
Christine Pelisek in the LA Weekly, that city’s alternative
liberal weekly paper, http://www.laweekly.com/2009-11-26/news/l-a-39-s-medical-weed-wars/
and http://www.laweekly.com/2009-12-03/news/trutanich-probes-pot-backer-duncan/.
Those two articles exposed facts that even Los Angeles city
councilmembers didn’t know — that the city has 545 “medical”
marijuana dispensaries (dwarfing the number of Starbucks), concentrated
in the wealthier areas of the city and not near hospitals and medical
clinics, and operating “without permits, inspections, or a single
zoning hearing.” “Police say the profits taken by pot dispensaries
are often stratospheric — a charge pot advocates deny. But in the West
Valley early this year, where 51 weed dispensaries operate, when the
LAPD busted five linked locations they found a treasure trove of
receipts showing that the small shops had together taken in $48,802 in a
single day from 353 customers plunking down an average of $138. The
dispensaries often charge customers double, or better, what they paid to
organized crime groups, gangs, and California growers for their pot, law
enforcement officials say.” But, of course, things will be different
in DC because the city is so efficient and effective at regulating such
matters, the city council and mayor are so responsible, and the
limitless profits that the marijuana industry will generate will never
be used to lobby and influence the city’s politicians. It will all be
good.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Recently we got yet another in a long line of parking tickets for “fail
disp multi rcpt.” I must say this is rather vexing. As our primary
vehicle is a motorcycle, there is no secure place to put a multi meter
receipt. While we appreciate the convenience of the new multi meters,
especially the fact that they take credit cards, it really seems unfair
to motorcycles.
We are not permitted to park on the sidewalk like a scooter (we tried
and got a ticket, of course). We don’t take up a full parking space ,
not even half of one. We physically can’t display the parking receipt,
and we are constantly vulnerable to hefty fines. Is there some way to
remedy this situation? I would think that DC would want to encourage the
use of fuel efficient (50 mpg) vehicles that take up little space.
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Google Provides Wireless Internet to 1000 DC
Families
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
This is welcome news. (See http://tinyurl.com/yjpub2a)
The Cricket wireless Internet service is not as fast as DSL or cable
modem, but it is about fifteen times faster than dial-up Internet. I
hope Google (or someone) will tell these families about the excellent
online typing tutor by the BBC called Dance Mat Typing.
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Bill to Rededicate the DC WWI Memorial
Judy Scott Feldman, jfeldman@savethemall.org
Mark David Richards has a long history of advocating on behalf of the
dignified but neglected DC War Memorial and we are all immensely
grateful that, finally, the National Park Service is dedicating funds to
its restoration. In discussing the Congressional bill that would
rededicate the Memorial to be also a national WWI Memorial [themail,
December 4], Mark makes a compelling case for preserving its special DC
character. He also asks, “Can the Memorial be shared? Sure — but don’t
trivialize the citizens of the District who built the Memorial in honor
of their losses.”
That is the challenge. It’s a possibility the National Coalition to
Save Our Mall has suggested is worth considering — carefully, in an
open and public discussion of the Commemorative Works Act that governs
memorial building in the District and imposed a moratorium in 2003 —
on page 7 of our new report, Renewing American Democracy on the 3rd
Century Mall, at http://www.savethemall.org.
The Coalition’s position is considerably more nuanced than Sphere’s
statement that we “oppose” the legislation, at http://www.sphere.com/2009/12/03/last-doughboy-seeks-wwi-memorial-on-mall/
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More Information on the World War I Memorial
Mark David Richards, mark@markdavidrichard.com
Jennifer Talken-Spaulding, the Cultural Resources Program Manager for
the National Mall and Memorial Parks, has sent links to two terrific
documents about the World War I Memorial. They are real reports with
full bibliographies, very comprehensive, published subsequent to my
little effort to figure out the history of the little Memorial so many
people were puzzled about. (Can you tell I am excited to see these
publications?) The first document was published in 1986, and includes a
full list of names engraved on the Memorial in an Appendix. The second
report was published this year:
DC War Memorial Historic Structures Report: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/park_histories/index.htm#n.
Click “N” for National Capital Parks, then scroll down to the report
“District of Columbia War Memorial Historic Structures Report and
Cultural Landscape Assessment.”
DC War Memorial Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI): http://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan/Whatsnew.html.
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Gary, your analysis of the situation with Councilmember Well’s and
Lisa Raymond’s letter [themail, December 2] is excellent. There is a
full fledged assault occurring on freedom of speech and belief, and it
is targeted toward those who hold traditional values. As I mentioned in
a previous post, “Equality,” http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2009/09-11-04.htm,
the adoption of same sex marriage in DC will make it illegal to teach in
public schools or any other public setting about traditional marriage
that excludes the acceptance of same sex marriages.
Eveyone should read the letter that was sent to our organization by
Michelle Rhee, http://www.ultrateenchoice.org/default.asp?contentID=645
(scroll down for the original letter. She says “Furthermore, we expect
partners to be inclusive and affirming of all DCPS students and their
families as described in the District’s nondiscrimination policy and
Human Rights Act.” This statement was made because in a meeting with
staff members Richard Nyankori and Chad Ferguson I failed to explicitly
state my personal endorsement for same sex unions. If same sex marriage
becomes law in DC, she will have legal standing to exclude our
organization or any other simply based on the fact that we do not
explicitly accept same sex marriages. And if you teach that marriage is
between a man and a woman, and say nothing about same sex marriage (that
was our position), then you will be breaking the law!
Also, this attack is not new. Draconian Home School regulation
proposed in 2008 would have required home schooling parents to allow
observations in their home. If it was determined that the DC Public
Schools Health standards were not being followed by not teaching that
same sex relationships are acceptable and normal, then you would not be
in compliance. You could be forced to send your children to public
school. Fortunately, under almost unanimous objection from some one
hundred people who testified, the proposed rules were modified. However,
why were they proposed in the first place? The way things are going in
DC, married couples need to be listed as a protected class under the
human rights act, and that is not a joke.
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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES
Due to the appropriation of $52 billion for area small, minority, and
women owned businesses in the area, we are seeking small businesses
interested in contracts from the District of Columbia and area
governments. Areas of interest are construction, computer and IT
services, office supplies, building security, and maintenance services.
For information contact Arthur Jackson at Global AHJ Group,
301-272-0730, or E-mail governmentcontracts@yahoo.com.
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