A Haitian Ghetto Mess

Well, I agree with the video above. What were "Reverend Robertson" and "Dope-addict Limbaugh" thinking? These people suffered a severe earthquake in a poor country that already had no type of infrastructure to start off with.

Robertson’s version of Haiti’s ‘pact with the devil’ alludes to the 1791 slave rebellion, which was allegedly launched with religious ceremony by Vodou priest Dutty Boukman.

How in the hell can people say something like that? Now, I have said some harsh, critical things on this blog, but I would never be so crass and unsympathetic to say such things about people who are suffering. Like Mr. Olbermann said, Robertson is the devil and Limbaugh is an idiot. Now this is from a commentator on the Fox News Network. Think about that.

Limbaugh criticized President Obama and the Democratic party for sending troops to the stricken island nation for humanitarian purposes. He brings up a statement from the president about the cost of the war and asks, pointedly, what is the cost of sending a soldier to Haiti.
 

“The U.S. military is now Meals on Wheels. It always is with Democrat presidents,” Limbaugh said.

"We've already donated to Haiti,'' Limbaugh told the caller on his radio show. "It's called the U.S. income tax." (Read the full transcript at Limbaugh's website.)


While I can agree that we have so many problems here at home with the recession, some are families struggling to eat and pay the rent. The harsh reality is, American tax dollars should go to helping Americans.

Even with the current recession, the United States is much better off than Haiti has ever been. So this country is in a better position to provide aid to this nation. Yet, if it was up to Robertson and Limbaugh, Haiti would be another New Orleans after Katrina. There would be very little aid or nothing at at all.

As far as the American Red Cross, there should some oversight to make sure the money and the supplies go where they are supposed to. Make sure that these various non-profit organizations are legitimate, before you donate to them.

Happy New Year! (That'll be five cents, please!)

It is 2010 and people wonder how long can he keep this blog going? As long as I don't have to pay five cents each time I post.

Starting this past week, a new five cent ($0.05) tax will be imposed on every plastic and paper bag used by shoppers at grocers and other retailers throughout the District.

The bag tax is the result of legislation passed unanimously by the D.C. Council in June. The bill, sponsored by council members Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6, and Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, was rushed through under the auspices of cleaning up the environment.

Disclosure: I used to work for Councilperson Wells. I tried to warn him that people would not like this tax.


San Francisco went so far as banning plastic bags outright in 2007, becoming the first American city to do so. That's where the idea came from.

Four cents of the new five-cent bag tax will go into a fund dedicated to cleaning up the Anacostia River. The other penny will be kept by the retailer. Stores that provide incentives to bring reusable bags will retain two cents.

I think that it is a tax on the poor. Low income and poor folks, especially the homeless, are known for carrying many bags. I think that this is way to generate extra tax revenue. If you're a big grocery shopper with six double-bagged items, you're paying sixty-cents ($0.60)!

With the economy the way it is, this is just one more expense that we have to deal with.

D.C. Gets Medical Marijuana

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Sunday that clears the way for the District government to allow medical marijuana use.

"This is the biggest win for home rule in decades," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law this week.

The District would join Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in allowing medical marijuana.

D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), chairman of the Health Committee, supports medical marijuana but said city leaders will proceed with caution.
Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, said he thinks medical marijuana could be available in the District by the end of 2010.

How's this for an early Christmas present? I didn't see this coming.

Amazing!

I wonder if I'll be able to open up a marijuana shop next year. 

Party Crashers: The White House

If a nice looking couple, a beautiful blond woman and her husband (you assume) dressed in a sharp tuxedo knocked on your door claiming to be invited to your party, would you let them in?

Most people would.

Unless, you're the President of the United States. Evidently, the Secret Service let this couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi of Northern Virginia come to a party at the White House despite their names not being on the list.

The couple risked the wrath of the Secret Service to stroll brazenly in front of news cameras to rub elbows with nearly 300 hand-picked guests that included members of the Indian diplomatic corps and other special guests with connections to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

They claim that they were invited by connections with someone in the Defense Department.

How can people just be allowed to walk into the White House?

I Will Not Bow Down to Nobody

For some reason the song, "I Will Not Bow" by the band Breaking Benjamin sticks in my head. The lyrics, I think really describes what I'm trying to achieve with the Anacostia Diaries.

I've been at this thing since 2002. So despite the dirty looks, whispers and laughs, I'm not going anywhere.

"I Will Not Bow"

FALL!

Now the dark begins to rise
Save your breath, it's far from over
Leave the lost and dead behind
Now's your chance to run for cover

I don't wanna change the world
I just wanna leave it colder
Light the fuse and burn it up
Take the path that leads to nowhere

Yes! Exactly. I want to set this fucking city on fire before the real fire comes to this city.I mentioned in a posting some years ago that I had a dream that there was a blinding flash of light and that this city was on fire. I believe that this will happen one day and soon.


All is lost again
But I'm not giving in

I've felt like giving up and deleting this blog so many times, but...

I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away

FALL!

Watch the end through dying eyes
Now the dark is taking over
Show me where forever dies
Take the fall and run to Heaven

All is lost again
But I'm not giving in

I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away

And I'll survive, paranoid
I have lost the will to change
And I'm not proud, cold-blooded fate
I will shut the world away

I couldn't of said it any better myself! Yes!

I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away

And I'll survive; paranoid
I have lost the will to change
And I'm not proud, cold-blooded fate
I will shut the world away

This song is one hundred percent about the Anacostia Diaries. I just hope that someone out there can do a hip-hop version or a go-go/R&B version. This song for some of you may seem morbid or suicidal. It is. The interpretation is what matters.