December 5, 2007
Morning Roundup: First Snow Edition
Are you ready, D.C.?! That's right: it's the first snowfall of the season. We talked about it yesterday, and the outlook remains pretty much the same. Both Capital Weather and our local TV weatherpeople agree that we'll get about an inch of unusually fluffy snow, with most of it falling by early afternoon.
City Starts Looking For More Theft: Watch out, D.C. government ne'er-do-wells: Dan Tangherlini is on your trail. NBC4 reports that the city administrator has asked every department to identify the top five ways that their employees could be ripping us off. It also seems that Dan is conducting secret reviews of departmental spending, which are not made public. Better shape up, civil servants — he could be watching you right now.
Somewhat relatedly, the Examiner is reporting that Sebastian "Ben" Lorigo, Natwar Gandhi's top lieutenant, plans to retire early next year. Lorigo had faced criticism for failing to prevent the current tax office scandal.
Anti-Illegal Coalition Forms In Va.: Apparently undaunted by voters' lukewarm reception to the issue this fall, some Virginians are banding together to form an anti-illegal immigrant coalition, as the Post reports. The Coalition on Illegal Aliens plans to study the impact of illegals and make policy proposals to local governments.
Briefly Noted: Man fatally struck by Metrobus was in crosswalk after all... Senate aide arrested on child sex charges... U.S. House passes tax break for Va. Tech shooting victims... Suspected "wig lady" bank robbery ringleader arrested... Fire at Cheverly recycling plant... Stray bullet hits man near Deanwood Metro... Chesapeake Bay taking a turn for the worse...
This Day In DCist: One year ago we were checking out Mayor Fenty's web presence and feeling good about the year's crime outlook. In 2005 we reviewed the NFT series' D.C. edition.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user voteprime
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Ah!
It hurts to see you write "Anti-Illegal Coalition." The Right has politicized the way we talk about undocumented immigrants, and you've let them make "illegal" a noun--as in, "I really hate them illegals," and "Illegals are ruining our country." A person can't simply be "illegal," and for the sake of grammar--and human kindness--please don't refer to them as such.
Growing up in SoCal the use of word "illegals" has been around forever..its just making its way out east. On a postive side it is a step up from the use of "wetbacks".
That was a ridiculous commute to work--2 hours to go from Mt. Pleasant to Tysons on a drive that started at 6:45 am. There are hardly even flurries out, people!! It really isn't that hard to drive in this stuff!!
2 accidents on the GW Parkway, 123 shut down, 2 fender benders on the side roads in McLean. And that's for a supposed "reverse" commute...I can only imagine what anyone taking the Dulles Toll Road, 495, 66, 270 or 50 faced this morning.
Fun friends, you're right they aren't immigrants, they really should be called "Foreign Invaders."
"It really isn't that hard to drive in this stuff!!"
True for 99.5% of the roads but the bridges and overpasses are icy and slick. I was motoring along just fine until I hit one on Rte 50 in Arlington and could feel that I was no longer completely on the road.
With roads around here running at full capacity it only takes one accident to totally screw up all the roads for miles around.
Red Line was super packed this morning. But there was a guy who was in a polo shirt and khakis. No coat. No sweater. No nothing to deal with the weather. Odd.
Red line also had tons of announcements about delays due to slippery track conditions. But they seemed to be running trains on a normal rush hour schedule.
'Foreign invaders' is more than a bit outré, whereas 'undocumented workers' is such a mild euphemism as to sound meaningless. 'Illegal aliens', 'illegal foreign nationals' or 'illegal immigrants' -- they are breaking entry and residency laws -- are the more precise terms and I think DCist should stick with them.
My favorite this morning was WAMU's "tips" for driving in the snow -- drive more slowly than usual and leave more space between you and the car in front of you. Really? People need to be told this?
Westbound orange line was a mess between East Falls and West Falls. A van and slid off 66 and crashed into the retaining wall and fence that blocks the tracks from the road.
As a former upstate NY resident, my snowy driving advice was to drive as fast as possible in order to beat the accident that would shut down the Thruway. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find the incongruity in that advice.
The problem with the term "illegal" is elsewhere. The problem resides in the fact that most people judge illegal acts to be morally wrong. When, in fact, many of these so-called illegals break the law because they feel a moral duty to provide for their families.
You cannot open up the world economy to deregulation in all spheres while, at the same time, INCREASING regulations on immigration. That is incongruent. Workers have to be allowed access to means by which to support themselves and their families. And don't even try to tell me that any one of you wouldn't illegally immigrate rather than watch your family go hungry. Quit blaming the victims of a failing global economic scheme.
@Esmeralda: Yes, they do. It is astonishing, but they do.
If I were a cop with a ticket quota, I'd find a nice spot near a donut shop and stand there writing tickets for people following too closely. I'd probably meet my monthly quota in a day, if the donuts didn't distract me too much.
And Metro... For real? First it is leaves, and now a hint of snow? Sheesh.
Snowy roads full of traffic. These are the types of crappy gifts our parents would give us during our eight nights of Chanukah.
Happy Chanukah, everybody!
I should clarify my earlier comment--it IS hard to drive in this if you drive as some people do "normally"--too fast, distracted and aggressive. Just slow down, use the correct speed for conditions, put down the Blackberry and accidents can be avoided.
and the hanukkah gifts are supposed to get bigger every night!
More traffic!
A good portion the immigrant is a word that makes no reference to documentation. it just is. Most immigrants who've come to this country over the past two hundred years have not had any documentation. And that's what people are talking about. Documentation. You can still immigrate without documentation. People have for all of human history.
As recent tallies have suggested that 3/4 of all immigrants in California are actually documented and in fact citizens.
I suspect that this new Virginia group is going to come to conclusions that support their thesis. And not find what other groups that aren't using such loaded terminology have found: immigrants of all stripes benefit the economy, create jobs, and any type of enforcement provision that didn't seek to streamline the immigration process -- would bankrupt the region.
The photo above is a great reminder how big a deal my people have made this country make out of Hannukah (Chanukkah, Hannukkah, etc.) considering it is a holiday maybe on par with Tu B'Shvat or if you need a goyim equivalent, Guy Fawkes Day.
Just so you goyim remember... it's not a "Jewish Christmas." We only get presents because you people get them.
Yes, I'm bitter and loving it.
Bitter or Happy, Chag Sameach (Hebrew for "Happy Holiday" for the lovely goyim) DCist! Enjoy your dreidel spinning and hopefully latke gorging.
Boooo Antiochus IV.
Better shape up, civil servants — he could be watching you right now.
Why was my first thought: "Ceiling Dan is watching you (mis)appropriate?" Oy....
Better shape up, civil servants — he could be watching you right now.
Why was my first thought: "Ceiling Dan is watching you (mis)appropriate?" Oy....
Better shape up, civil servants — he could be watching you right now.
Why was my first thought: "Ceiling Dan is watching you (mis)appropriate?" Oy....
Wait, wait...so the snow is totally here, but WHERE is Davey DCist?
http://dcist.com/2006/11/28/snow_patrol.php