Tuesday Treasure(s)

Time to go up the road, to do the hard work of helping with the harvest at Clagett; of course hard work has its rewards, such as this view!

Oddly enough, there has been abundant eggplant this month, odd because eggplant is generally considered a warm weather crop. (There were also a few string beans to be had, and the tomatoes are on the way out. Boo!)

* * *

A quick, tasty side dish to make with those string beans and tomatoes: boil the string beans in salted water for as long as you wish, then drain in a colander or strainer. Toss with salt, chopped tomatoes, and torn fresh basil, then eat. Simply delicious!

"Old soldiers never die, they just fade away"--Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Seeing the most recent presidential "debate" brought MacArthur's aphorism to mind, because if recent actions and non-actions are any indication, such as the pulling of his campaign out of Michigan, we are seeing John McCain beginning to fade into the political twilight.

Another example of this possible pullback is the (blessed!) lack of television campaign ads from the McCain camp in the last few days; considering that Virginia is now also known as a battleground state, you'd think the DC airwaves would be inundated with Republican mendacity, but there's been relative silence.

Thus, I can see why even moderate and conservative political insiders are now whispering that McCain may have effectively given up the campaign ghost. (Via the Guardian's Michael Tomasky, reporting from Washington.)

There's only one thing left --to go to the polls in November to put the nails in the coffin of McCain's presidential bid!

Dressing the part for the polling place?

Like wildfire, rumors have been spreading--via the radio as well as the Internet--that voters wearing candidate paraphernalia--Obama t-shirts, political buttons--may be turned away from the polls for electioneering. This debate-within-a-debate, to dress up or not, has more legs than a centipede. In fact, the Maryland Board of Elections had to put a "Rumor Control" section on its website in order to address such speculation!

So, in Maryland, voters CAN wear all manner of campaign paraphernalia to, and into, the polling place. However, once you are done voting, you cannot loiter or linger behind the polling place. The vagueness of the election law as written is probably what gave rise to such rumors, as it does not define "electioneering." Also, commentors on the DailyKos website have commented that sometimes they have been hassled for wearing campaign articles to polling places. I wouldn't want to take a chance that a poll worker might find a way to tamper with my vote somehow, after having broadcast my intended choice via my clothing.

Maryland's elections website has also had to inform voters via rumor control that foreclosure does not keep one from voting. (However, such voters will need to update registration before October 14 in order to vote in this year's general election, as that is the deadline to be registered to vote in Maryland.) Folks voting by absentee ballot need to have a request in by mail or fax before October 28.

The last day for Virginia residents to register to vote is the close of business October 6. An application for an absentee must be received by the voter registration office by October 28.

However, DC voters should watch themselves! Not only is the DC board of elections' website woefully vague regarding registration deadline dates (or has buried them deep undercover), according to the ruling, Marlin v. District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics, 236 F. 3d 716 (D.C. Cir. 2001), DC voters CAN be stopped from voting if wearing any kind of campaign paraphernalia. The gentleman at question in the above court case, David Marlin, was a DC resident who went to his polling place to vote wearing his sticker in support of mayor candidate Anthony Williams, but was informed by a poll worker that he "could not cast his ballot while wearing the sticker." He was told that he would not be permitted to vote in the general election if wearing "any sticker, button, emblem, or clothing that showed support for a candidate." Whoa!

Unfortunately for Mr. Marlin, the court ruled in favor of the Board of Elections.

* * *

Skip the drama, vote for Obama, but don't let your clothing do the talking for you!

Rockin' that Vote...

It's crunch time for real in the election cycle. I mean, the storied young people who are supposed to be turning out in droves for the upcoming election--do they know that not only should they be registered, or register NOW--but they should also, if in college, ask about getting an absentee ballot? That way, even students who are unsure of whether they might be able to make it home to vote on that Tuesday can still vote, with plenty of time left over to continue studying. (That would be a benefit, right?)

The one caveat is that absentee ballots must be completed and mailed back two weeks or so before the general election in November, if I remember correctly (having voted via absentee ballot back in the dark ages), so you have to get the process started of getting the absentee ballot sent to you NOW. The life you save may be your own.


Saving More Lives?

While there has been much recent promotion of a new website, http://www.saferoadmaps.org/, a site designed to help people find which streets in their region have the most collisions, and their causes of said crashes, an admirable aim, the public might be unaware of the shortcomings of the data compiled, possibly leading to a skewed view of the factors most likely to cause, and contribute to, collisions in the first place.

Kent Sepkowitz of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City recently opined that speed as a factor in automobile fatalities is grossly underestimated, as states analyze auto fatalities in differing ways, often leading to low-balling of speed as a factor in these crashes.

***

Another day, another collision into a building (the third within the past month in the Washington area)--this time, into a townhouse in Clinton. It's believed that the driver may have fallen asleep while driving--a common, dangerous practice--which may have caused the driver to lose control. Unfortunately, this person seems to have been badly injured, in addition to making the house uninhabitable.

Also unfortunate is that there seemed to be quite a bit of yard in front of the townhouse before it was plowed into, enough that if the driver had been driving the speed limit for a residential area before nodding off (you know, 35 miles per hour or so), the car might have simply rolled a few feet onto the grass, and been well clear of the house when it finally stopped.

I am convinced that speed is a contributing, if not causal, factor in many of these crashes, which seem to be more frequent. (They seem to have been fairly rare before the middle of the 1990s.) Not so much because people occasionally lose control when they drive, but that they seem to hit something, or someone, hard when this happens, which is inevitable at high rates of speed. Just sayin'...


Going Dutch...

Now, you'd think that the Dutch Village Farmers' Market in Upper Marlboro would be an odd place to find culinary bargains, and you'd be right. However, there are deals to be found there, as there are at any other store. (However, the most dangerous bargain was the most heavily promoted--the giveaway of two free glazed donuts with any purchase from the bakery!)

While it's true that there were pricey canned goods, such as specialty jellies and conserves, my attention was captured by healthy cheap eats, as well as cheap sugar traps.

As for the healthy stuff, there was a surprisingly large selection of flours, seeds, etc., in bulk sizes. There were bags of both regular and golden flax seeds for less than $3, a true find, as well as tubs of natural peanut butter for about $2.50. Of course, around the corner from the healthy goodies were all the candies you remember from childhood--pixie sticks, giant swirly lollipops, twizzlers in all flavors (grape, orange), as well as fudge, chocolates, and caramel (some pieces for 35 cents each).

The lines for the various prepared hot foods snaked around inside the building, so I avoided them; the bakery was my real goal in the first place, and it did not disappoint. The prices for the goods was quite reasonable, and would make a good place to pick up rolls for the holidays, or a nice pie or layer cake. The bakery also offers many half-cakes and pies for sale, which is great for small households; apparently, caramel icing is a specialty, as there were many signs proclaiming "caramel frosting" and such on the layer cakes. Yum...

Oh, and the market has good-looking fresh produce as well as meats, so greens were on the menu again (rape greens, a hard-to-find delicacy ever since a local health food store was forced out of business by its landlord).

Had I known that such a commercial item existed at the time, I would have looked for Vrapple, vegan scrapple, when I was there. Oh well...

***

Regarding meat and the environment, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, an economist who is the chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, which won the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Al Gore), said that people should have at least one meat-free day a week, as one effective, yet relatively easy action (among many) to help curb global warming. (The Observer, via The Guardian.) Unlike Al Gore, however, Dr. Pachauri is a vegetarian, so he at least practices what he promotes.

Pachauri's views are confirmed by a study put out by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in late 2007, Livestock's Long Shadow, a 407-page report detailing the stresses that commercial livestock agriculture places on the environment, in terms of methane emissions, etc. (Methane is an even more drastic global warming agent than carbon.)

To quote Dr. Pachauri, "In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive possibility. Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there."

Even the UK's chief scientific advisor for the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Professor Robert Watson, said that his government could do more to help educate the public about the benefits of eating less meat, in that "Eating less meat would help, there's no question about that, but there are other things."

Food for thought.

Make It Stop!

I'm as keen as the next person to have intelligence and sanity restored to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January, so I look forward to Barack Obama taking the oath of office of President. (It would be doubly great if John Edwards also was to be sworn in as VP.)

However, our money-driven campaign finance "system" has one immediate effect--nudging me ever more closely to not watching television, so as to get away from the omnipresent political commercials, which pop up multiple times during every commercial break!

Can you say, campaign finance reform with teeth?

Bang, Bang?

On one hand, it's gratifying that some gun shops near DC (as there are none in the city proper, nor has there been for decades) are finally verifying whether potential handgun customers are from the District, at least until the DC City Council passes legislation specifying the conditions under DC residents can lawfully own the weapons.

However, why the heightened sense of responsiblity now? The DC handgun ban was in effect for thirty years, as everyone is well aware. Why didn't suburban gunshop owners feel a civic duty to verify customers' residence while the ban was effect, before it was struck down by the Supreme Court? This conscience-come-lately stance is hypocritical, at the very least, if not downright disgusting.

* * *

It's hard to figure out which is more worrisome--the manner in which the DC handgun ban was overturned (the fact that it was DC's law which made it to the Supreme Court suggests that DC is being made an experiment, yet again), or the reasoning underlying much of the public support for overturning the ban. The fact that some of the many groups which filed amici briefs in the case (District of Columbia v. Heller) believe that a person holding a handgun would be able dial 911 with the opposite hand, means that like much of the general public, ostensibly educated people place too much faith in the ability of handguns alone for self defense.

While it is true that under the right circumstances, you can defend yourself adequately with a handgun, there are too many caveats with gun possession to make it a first line of self defense.

For instance, late last year, a gun store in the region was robbed. Sadly and shockingly, such a situation is not that unusual, as many of the guns used in crimes are stolen; however, before that robbery, I was previously unaware that many guns are stolen from gun stores as well as from homes. Such a state of affairs would seem to suggest that if you sense a need to acquire a gun to protect yourself at home, you should take other measures first, such as having an alarm system installed, and using that alarm system; unfortunately, only half of homeowners having such systems actually turn them on, negating the purpose! Of course, other preventive security measures should be used as well, with any thought of acquiring a handgun as a last resort.

In the words of Ice-T's song, the best lethal weapon is your mind.

Get the Lead Out...

If you need another reason to convince you to slow down while driving, how about so that you don't end up driving into someone's house?

A man's car hit a house at the corner of Wheeler and Alabama Ave., SE, finally perching in the living room, after also hitting a pedestrian. The driver had to be cut out of his vehicle, the pedestrian also was rushed to the hospital, and one of the home's resident's was trapped in the living room by the errant auto for a while.

Just how fast must you be driving to go airborne and land in someone's home? You can bet the driver was zipping along faster than the typical 30 mile per hour speed limit for urban residential areas! In recent years, with increasingly depressing regularity, there seems to be a spate of drivers slamming into buildings, residential and commercial, at least once a month somewhere in the US. I wouldn't doubt that distracted drivers play a large part in this dubious uptick of a trend, but excessive speed would be the main culprit. After all, if you're driving the speed limit, it's hard for your vehicle to go much past the curb, much less fly like the General Lee of the Dukes of Hazzard. Just saying...

* * *

Back to the Future?

According to WUSA9, Virginia Senator John Warner (Republican) has recently written to the Department of Energy (DOE) to ask the Bush administration to support possible congressional efforts to re-establish a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour.

Warner noted that the potential petroleum savings would be greater now than back in 1974, when a national speed limit was first enacted (and remained in effect until 1995).

Sadly but unsurprisingly, a DOE spokeswoman repeated the administration's position that Congress should expand domestic oil production.

W--the American Nero.

Green Your Ride...

If you must drive in these gas-conscious times, please drive at or below the speed limit --it's one thing you can do--today--to easily and significantly reduce the amount of gas you consume. Driving the speed limit also makes it easier to do one of the other things that save mucho gas while driving, as it's easier to avoid jackrabbit starts and just-in-time braking if you're already driving at a reasonable speed.

* * *

In the meantime, let's hope that Metro gets the sorely needed increased funding for maintenance and better communications, sooner rather than later, as our public transportation options are needed now more than ever. Perhaps the phrase "dedicated funding source" should become a new Metro mantra. (One small victory--Metro has ditched its boneheaded plan of converting the seating on the trains to bench style! Woo hoo!)

Also on the local public transport front, Metro has recently rolled out the senior SmarTrip card (a bright yellow, as opposed to the blue SmarTrip cards), an easier way for seniors to get their discount when riding the bus, rail, or both. All SmarTrip passengers can add value to the card at any Metrorail station or on any Metrobus; however, the latter option, loading value to your card as you board the bus, seems challenging if there are other passengers behind you, also trying to board.

In one respect, Metro is getting savvier. For the first time, I heard a Metro radio spot last month highlighting the benefits of using a prepaid card like SmarTrip for commuting. What a way to go!

Pamper Yourself for Earth Day...

It's easy to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle without a great cash outlay, and be good to yourself at the same time!


Looking good

Zuzu Luxe Cosmetics (found online and at Pangea in Rockville) and Ecco Bella (online and at Whole Foods Markets) make high-quality cosmetics which are equivalent in cost to what you'll find at the grocery store or drugstore, as makeup isn't exactly cheap anymore. The lipstick from both brands glide smoothly and have a wide range of colors for all complexions.


Smelling good

You can smell good and save serious cash by switching the type of fragrance you purchase, from a commercial brand to a fragrance oil. Aromas set in oil last longer than those set in alcohol, as the commercial ones are, so a little goes a long way. The Attar Bazaar line of fragrance oils, available online and at Whole Foods, comes in tiny vials at $8 apiece, but then you only need a drop at a time. You can even try them at the store to see which one(s) you like before you buy. What a deal!


Feeling good

If you enjoy scented container candles, particularly the environmentally responsible soy or beeswax container candles, you can be both frugal and pamper yourself. When the wick is almost burned down to the metal wickholder, where you can almost see it through the wax, light the wick, blow it out, then quickly fish out the wickholder before the wax turns cold; soywax tends to be warm, but not burning hot, so this is OK. [Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to re-use the wickholder.] Put the wax in another container, like your mother did back in the day when she saved bacon grease. Use this wax on your hands for a personal, paraffin-free hand treatment! Of course, other parts of your body would appreciate this spa treatment, particularly when the weather turns cold, as candlewax softens the skin like nobody's business yet is not greasy like baby oil. You can do this with many candle brands, such as Method (whose grapefruit pear scent is now, unfortunately, only available online), not just particular brands touted as being massage oil candles.

This is Earth Day done right: kicking back, sitting pretty, and saving bucks!

Here he comes...

Pope Benedict XVI, that is. While it's not the Pope's intention to tie up traffic on the streets and byways in and around Washington this week, it's a natural consequence of his visit. (His arrival inadvertently proves the usefulness of getting around town on Metro.)

Although G.W. Bush claims that he greeted Pope Benedict at Andrews as a sign of "respect" for the pontiff, it's interesting how W has ignored both the current pope's views on the Iraq war, as well as those of Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II. What would constitute disrespect on W's part, if this is how he treats people he claims to respect?

* * *

Just in time for Earth Day comes word that the Vatican is making efforts to become greener, by such measures as installing 1,000 solar panels in the Paul VI Audience Hall (Vatican City's main auditorium), and providing prayer books made with recycled paper at a youth festival. I hope such efforts mean that Catholics can breathe easier, in that the Vatican is taking seriously the major issues of the day, the environment as well as the child sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic church in the past few years. One can only hope...

Five Years of Foolishness

What a tragic anniversary--that today marks five years of war-for-nothing. Sure, today's protests in downtown DC opposing our involvement in Iraq will get slightly more than the usual scant coverage on the evening news, but after that, what?

A recent article in The Nation, "The Iraq War is Killing Our Economy," (via Alternet) describes the sickening siphoning of money down this war drain, which makes me wonder whether the cynical intent of the our involvement there is to shrink the non-military sector of the government to a size where it can be drowned in a bathtub, to paraphrase conservative ultra-strategist Grover Norquist.

Unfortunately, inducing anorexia in the federal government is having the side effect of putting the rest of the economy out of kilter, because the relationship between government and the private sector, which conservatives are loathe to admit, has been a symbiotic one in the years following World War II, as have all Western nations since that time, as Richard Nixon aptly (but reluctantly) remarked, "We are all Keynesians now." Conservatives have been trying to sidestep that truth ever since, to the detriment of American society, and subsequently, the economy.

* * *

A recent local example of conservative meddling, in unfortunate opposition to the public good, concerns the stalling of the extension of Metro to Dulles, in the Washington Post article, "Letting the Market Drive Transportation," (via truthout.org). Today's protests, and the traffic conundrums they create, perfectly demonstrate, if inadvertently, the great need for increased infrastructure investment in public transport. The article details the lengths to which upper level political bureaucrats, motivated by a desire to increasingly privatize the transportation sytem as a way to decrease congestion, rather than upgrading public transportation.

* * *

Where could the frenzy of privatization lead us? How far can a nation fall when services that used to be considered a public trust become privatized? One unfortunate answer comes from Patrick Elie, in an interview with a Canadian journalist in Haiti Analysis, describing the extreme extent of privatization in that country, of formerly public resources being turned to private hands. Suffice it to say that Haiti's situation is so dire that dirt cakes are actually on the menu for many people in that nation.

The Great Debate

Resolved:

The new movie starring and directed by Denzel Washington, The Great Debaters, is a stirring, heartfelt depiction of the struggles of the esteemed poet Melvin Tolson and his students (the ones at his college's debate team) at Wiley College during the mid-1930s. In lesser hands, this fictionalized account of the trials of the teacher and his charges could have been boring, but the fine performances of veterans like Washington and (Forest) Whitaker are as affecting as the stellar turns by the younger actors Denzel Whitaker (no relation to either Mr. Washington or the other Mr. Whitaker), Jurnee Smollett (best known for her work in Eve's Bayou), and Nate Parker.

Three of the younger actors were at a (packed!) screening of the film at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC this past Sunday, answering questions from the audience after the screening. Applause broke out several times during the movie, as well as after (most often after one of Ms. Smollett's scenes). The youngest actor, Denzel Whitaker, portrayed a young James Farmer, Jr., a few years before he founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the other debaters portrayed were composites of other people. While there were a few liberties taken to make it based on a true story, and the mention of the anachronistic Willie Lynch (hoax) could have been left out, it was otherwise a fine rendering of conditions during the Great Depression, and how it afflicted the nation, especially black Americans.

Although the screening was free, I intend to pay to see it a second time! The Great Debaters opens on Christmas day.

* * *
Although I was intrigued by Denzel Washington's performance as Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas in American Gangster, I prefer his performance in The Great Debaters; however, I would not be surprised to see him nominated for either movie.

Washington's Local Flavor...

Not only are we Washingtonians fortunate to have excellent restaurants and farmer's markets, but other excellent local food purveyors and providers, a fact which can save your bacon this holiday season, when you can't, or don't have the energy, to prepare food.

Henry's Sweet Potato Pie (from Henry's Soul Cafe in Oxon Hill) is a fantastic, homemade tasting dessert. (Persnickety alert: Like my mother's sweet potato pie, Henry's is properly flavored, with nutmeg, not overpowered with cinnamon as most other pies are. The same is true of the heavenly nutmeg-scented peach cobbler from Gist Family Caterers in Washington, another local soul food provider.)

The gluttony regarding Henry's pies followed another glutton extravaganza, a (free!) year-end tasting at Biagio Chocolate on 18th Street. Sweet! Attending such an event (which was primarily attended by the fit and trim, who were served by the even more fit and trim) was possibly an example of a flash mob in action, as there were only a handful of folk in the choco-boutique before 6:30 pm, and near pandemonium only ten minutes later. The occasion? The introduction of new flavors from local chocolate-maker extraordinaire, Christopher's Confections. While the vanilla rum was fine, the margarita packed a wallop, and the peanut butter caramel was delightful, the almond chocolates were swoon-worthy--possibly the best chocolate I've ever had. (Next to Christopher's own citrus caramel chocolates, of course.) Unfortunately, I haven't yet had the pleasure of tasting food from the catering company, Basikneads, whose commercial kitchen Christopher uses to create his chocolate masterpieces, so I must attempt to rectify that situation!

Even mom-and-pop businesses like Scrumptious Entrees Catering and Cakes help in the important work of making life sweeter, especially with the party favor cakes made by Maria Smith, which resemble large petit fours (if such a thing could exist). Not only are they moist, but the fresh citrus used in the fondant pops out at you, giving a refreshing tang to the treats.

A relatively new, but already famous, food purveyor that I haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting is Uncle Brutha's Hot Sauce Emporium. Samples of some of his sauces were recently offered at the Whole Foods Market on P Street, and were remarkably thick and rich, as well as providing the necessary heat. The green sauce was almost chunky, and had a wonderfully complex flavor. Can't wait to head to Capitol Hill to try and buy a few of his bottled heat treats!

Sound and fury

Lively. Intelligent. Contentious. From all quadrants of the District, as well as Maryland and Virginia, came a professor and scientist, a Sierra Club spokesman, students, workers, activists (this being D.C.), and other commuters to the hearing at Metro headquarters regarding the proposed fare increases, a standing-room only affair last night. Oh, and Metro General Manager John Catoe and D.C. council member Jim Graham attended, with Graham moderating; to their credit, both stayed the entire time, almost three hours.

Considering the number of activists from the ANSWER Coalition who spoke (one of whom, Ms. Mills, patiently held a banner until it was almost time for her to speak), and the heated emotions and differing viewpoints present, the proceedings were surprisingly orderly, with fifty (count 'em) people altogether, including moi, who gave testimony.

And what testimony it was! Included with the complaints regarding fare hikes were shoehorned criticism of the war in Iraq, as well as pointed remarks about the appointed, unelected nature of the board. One interesting fact that was justly thrown back in Metro's face was that Metro riders pay the highest percentage of the system cost for rail relative to passengers in other North American cities, so there should be some consideration of that fact in any fare increase that comes down the pike. Mr. Greenberg of MetroRiders.org gave testimony to the generous indirect subsidy for highway driving as opposed to more meager funding for public transit. A number of speakers spoke to the need for the future, for Metro more aggressively pursuing greater funding from the federal government, as Metro transports many of these employees to work, as well as the need for a dedicated funding source, as Metro is the only major city transportation system lacking one.

Of course, I knew the evening was going to be cooking when, before it even began, one guy from actfortransit.org in Montgomery County, MD was passing out flyers which pointed out that it's unfair to raise Metro rates without increasing the gasoline tax as well.

Whew! I'm just coming up for air now...

Sparks will fly...

After complaints by Metro that the first of its meetings regarding proposed fare increases was sparsely attended (what did it expect when it scheduled one in Reston, a location which barely has Metrobus service?), it has publicized tonight's meeting at Metro headquarters, near the Verizon Center. This one should have reasonable attendance, with the extra publicity boost; I might attend just to see if it's better attended than one I went to earlier this year. (Metro frankly doesn't publicize its hearings far enough in advance, and could use a communications department that knows how to use eye-catching graphics in its posters and other methods of communication.)

The need for rate increases because of rising costs must be balanced with Metro's goal of getting some suburbanites out of their cars; if the price rise is too steep, many current riders may decide to drive into town, which would be a tragedy all around.

Can't Tell Me Nothin'

What a shame about Kanye West's mom's untimely death, all for cosmetic surgery, for someone who didn't appear to need any, as she appeared youthful. (And the weeks in recovery from plastic surgery are the same number of weeks that hitting the weights in the gym might have toned a tummy up instead of getting a tuck.) The irony is that this incident spotlighted a trait which served Donda West well most of her life, her stubbornness (which Kanye obviously inherited), but which turned on her in her insistence on having surgery even after her initial (apparently honest) surgeon balked at performing it at the time. (So, apparently Kanye's not the only one in his family who can't be told nothin.')

Some good may yet come out of this tragedy, if only because it may snap folks into remembering that plastic surgery is actual surgery, with all its attendant risks. Also, it's bizarre that Dr. Jan Adams could have a Beverly Hills practice, and programs on cable, but not be board certified? (Which means that much of his affluent clientele and cheerleaders never bothered to take a close look at his credentials, such as they were, even boosters such as Oprah, who's having a run of problems herself lately.)

* * *

Unfortunately, such focus on the death of a celebrity's mom has eclipsed reflection on the lives of luminaries who have recently deceased, such as the late Congressman Augustus "Gus" Hawkins, one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus and a champion of civil rights, who recently passed away. (He had recently celebrated his 100th birthday.) Oh, the things he must have seen and experienced in this past, free-flying century.

The Green Capital?

Like many other areas, the Washington, DC region is its own set of paradoxes. By some measures, the area is one of the "greenest" in the nation, with the greatest number of Prius owners, etc. (although the high Prius ownership is due, in large part, to the ridiculous [and now former] Virginia law which permitted hybrid vehicles to use the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, even when the driver was the sole passenger, which negated the purpose of having HOV lanes)!

Other environmental factors typical in America are true for the D.C. area. Our notorious air quality problems, for instance, partly stem from the fact that, like the rest of the nation, much of our electricity comes from coal. (A peek at the periodic PEPCO statements, which inconspicuously mention the sources of the electricity generated, tells the story.)

The traffic conundrum will take many steps to fix, and attitudes to change. Certainly, Metro's management needs to return to its senses and remember that one of Metro's original goals was to encourage suburbanites to leave their cars behind; thus, its proposed rate increases must not be too drastic, so as not to drive us away.

Another piece of the traffic puzzle, proposed for a different city might help D.C. if proposed and approved. (Dream on!) Bloomberg's suggestion of a congestion tax for Manhattan might work in D.C., if...only because the number of lone drivers coming to D.C. to work from Maryland is staggering. When I used to take the marathon 30-bus route into D.C., countless times I noticed, almost to a car, individual drivers sitting in traffic, which can't be a good thing for air quality. As many of these folk are headed to a relatively small geographical area, and Washington is a city with a huge percentage of suburbanites coming into the city, second only to New York City, our current traffic situation is a tragecomedy. More realistic proposed solutions, such as extending the Maryland Rail Commuter line (MARC) to weekend hours--a long overdue change--might take a decade or more to implement!

Sure, events like the recent Green Festival are fantastic, and a great starting point for getting ideas and encouragement in living a more environmentally friendly fashion (this year's unofficial green festival theme seemed to emphasize local living, with panels on subjects such as funding local businesses, which had Cakelove owner Warren Brown sharing the stage with local lenders, how to install your own green options, etc.), but it's everyday living patterns that will improve the quality of life, and make everyone's space greener.

Solar Sprint (the Solar Decathlon, or Green Festival part deux)

As you might have imagined, there was quite a crowd at the Solar Decathlon, when I meandered to the Sunday session of the event. With all the information, as well as being able to tour the demonstration homes that 20 university teams trucked to Washington was impressive.

However, I only bothered to see the insides of three of the five homes that I was interested in viewing. One of them, built by Team Montreal of the Lawrence Technological University, was closed. Nonetheless, its friendly bilingual guide, Sylvain, tried to explain some of the external features of the home, including the plants growing from the side of the house, which are used to supplement the insulation! (Now, the University of Maryland's home had a similar feature, but had a different use for its plants, which appeared more vigorous.)

Carnegie Mellon's house had a spacious kitchen, which, like many of the others, had a range that used magnetic energy, which is supposedly the most efficient way to cook. (It came from KitchenAid.) It could have been more spacious in feel, had there been more fortuitious decorating choices. The container plants at the backwall help shore up the insulation, as well as collect rainwater (or, at least that's the future intention).

MIT's house had a great design, inside and out. Its panels didn't "look" solar--they look almost like plain shingles. Its living room had a glow wall, composed of layers of superinsulated material, as well as tubes in the front of the house to heat the water. (The tubes themselves were cool to the touch, however.) One feature that had us gawkers intrigued was the grass growing in the containers surrounding the house, which the docent explained was the Ecolawn, which only needs to be watered to establish itself, and then doesn't require any more, nor needs to be mowed, as it only grows to 9" tall, and flops down. The Ecolawn is quite green, with thin strands, which flop over like someone's hair.

Penn State's house, the Morningstar, had an even roomier vibe than MIT's, if that were possible, and is the one with the glass dairy jugs to help control the amount of light that comes into the living area.

By the time I wandered over to the home built by the University of Maryland team, I had a feeling not unlike being at an amusement park, after standing in line after line and you're at the point of dropping...which was unfortunate for me, as I really wanted to see it, along with apparently 200 other people at the time. It looked nice from the outside, and its plant panel is used to help keep down the runoff into the Chesapeake Bay, not insulation.

Oddly, with all the high-, low-, and medium-tech technologies and material, such as the Pennsylvania black slate used on part of Penn State's house, none of the windows of the houses I peeked at seemed to have the simple low-tech feature of screens for the windows. In this context, I think of screens as being environmentally friendly, as they keep me from having to kill critters!

We're Number One!

There are some lists that, well, you don't want to be at the top of. Unfortunately, America is at the top of one such heap, in that Americans own more guns than citizens of any other nation, according to a study by the Small Arms Survey. Woo-hoo! Considering the historically high levels of violence plaguing this country, to which guns contribute more than a bit, I regret not being able to make a rally at a local gun store, just over the line from D.C., a store which is a source of many of the guns used in shootings in Washington. (As handguns are illegal in D.C. itself.) I wonder, do county police stake this store, to see, and stop gun buyers with D.C. license plates that return to D.C.? Greater city-county police cooperation might reduce the amount of crime in this part of the Washington metropolitan area. (Or at least, better police cooperation might have saved me from having to waste time in D.C. traffic court, in which I finally beat a ticket stemming from a license plate stolen from my car, which someone was seen driving in D.C.)


Not a pretty shade of green...

Here we go again--another bagged spinach recall, but this time, the microbial culprit is salmonella, generally associated with subpar chicken. Now, I haven't eaten bagged spinach since the last recall (hate to be so blase!) because, when you think about it, eating a raw food that's been sealed in the condensation-producing environment of the plastic bag is, frankly, an open invitation to the microscopic beasties to party in your intestines.

"America in miniature"

The contrast in incomes in the state of Maryland, whose slogan is "America in miniature," proves the truth of that slogan, as it has now been found the state whose overall income is the highest in the nation, albeit with persistent pockets of poverty. Such income disparity, unfortunately, is just like America--for better and worse.

Things are the same--no magnified, just across the line in Washington, DC, where white Washingtonians earn well over the national average, while the average income of black Washingtonians trails far behind.

Plus ca change...

London Bridge--It's not what's falling down...

After the agony of waiting to find out the fate of the trapped Utah miners comes word that mine management may have been cutting corners when it comes to getting coal out of the ground. (Gives new meaning to the environmentalist slogan, "Coal is the enemy of the human race.")

* * *

In a disaster of a different kind, the aftermath of the earthquake in Peru brought on the unfortunate, yet predictable scourge of looting. No wonder--most of Peru is extremely poor to begin with, and the quake made a bad situation worse. The hand wringing over the pilfering brings to mind the kerfluffle over the looting that resulted from Hurricane Katrina's unwanted visit.

* * *

The next wave...

In addition to the widespread havoc and suffering caused in the Caribbean by Hurricane Dean, as the maelstrom slams into Mexico, some of the Gulf of Mexico's oil platforms have been shut down temporarily. This could mean another breathtaking, nausea-inducing ride on the petroleum price roller coaster!

A few weeks back, as a result of a stroll to the used-book emporium, Second Story Books, I happened upon a practical guide called Apocalypse Chow, which purports to be a cookbook for "How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out," but it's chock full of emergency preparedness tips, as the authors, Jon and Robin Robertson, are veterans of four (count 'em!) major hurricanes. However, they caution that their book is intended for "...survivors who merely have to struggle without electrical power for days or weeks. It's for people whose houses are still safe to live in or those who have fled to the safety of a distant motel." For most of us, there are enough safety tips within to help in case of such an emergency, but of course, it's best to browse this book before a storm actually hits!

* * *

A lack of funding, which state and federal governments are now scrambling to uncover--and even Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota, who vetoed two generous transportation bills, has now had a change of heart. Hmm...this would amount to how much per body?

Adding to the general disgraceful state of the infrastructure is the American penchant for the new over the true, our addiction to the flashy and shiny, but not to borrrrrrrring upkeep... Senator Charles Schumer, recently quoted in the New York Times, aptly said, "...routine but important things like maintenance always get shortchanged because it's nice for somebody to cut a ribbon for a new structure." Of course, this affliction affects how we choose to fund transportation projects.

However, I've also wondered about the wisdom of allowing a bridge to remain open while it's under construction. Sadly, I have my answer with the Minnesota bridge collapse, so I'll quit complaining about the temporary closure of the Douglass Bridge in DC.

* * *

Another type of infrastructure has gained increasing attention of late--the increasing unnetted high-wire act known as the American health care "system."

The latest casualties of this crazy quilt are young adults, the largest single group of the uninsured in America, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The excuses that insurers offer is that young people feel they don't need insurance because they think they're invincible. This is nonsense, because in every other industrialized nation, everyone is covered, regardless of age--coverage is mandatory in those countries. (at least for for people under certain income brackets, such as in Germany).

When will the excuses about not providing universal health coverage in America come to an end?