DC Blogs Noted
Tips for Screen on the Green. A rant. How to survive the outdoor Mall movies. The Search for J Street
About a roommate who became a friend and the change ahead. Culinary Couture
The Town. The Penn. The Langston. The Highland. The Tivoli. Some of the names of DC’s old movie theaters. Undercover Black Man
After living in Ethiopia for a year-and-a-half, this writer compares the local version of the cuisine with the real thing. Written in Caps
There is a woman in Dupont Circle who gives tarot card readings, writes This Too Shall Pass. The tarot card reader is described: She has blue toe-nail polish. She smiles.
Lemon Gloria explains: Here’s what you will find, as you start dating older guys, or as you age along with your partner.
A note: The violence in the District is out of control. While the Washington Post extends its Chandra Levy murder investigation over a 12-part series, one of the more horrific crimes in the District was committed this week. It hasn’t received too much press attention. From two reports, the Post and ABC Seven: A man and a woman from Falls Church are in car near Howard University. Six men approach in what may have been an attempted vehicle hijacking. A gun is fired and the woman passenger, 47-year-old Barbara Carl, is killed. A life ends just like that. By pointing out Ms. Carl’s murder, I don’t mean to otherwise minimize the near daily slaughter of young men and women in the city. On the same day that Ms. Carl was attacked, Robert Mallory, 19, SE, was shot and killed. But at what point do we say that there’s either something seriously dysfunctional with the city’s response or we need to call in the National Guard to augment police? This is a city where the violence is so bad that vehicle checkpoints were recently put in one neighborhood, Trinidad. More relevant to this audience: Can a city of bloggers bring about change? After the shooting in Adams Morgan last week, I walked by the scene, looked at the blood on the sidewalk and watched people walk by, the rhythms of life seemingly intact. The newspapers deliver the facts; it’s the bloggers who have the power to humanize it before the violence is disassembled into the routine. There are thousands of blogging voices in the District, many with great gifts, insights and the ability to reshape the perspectives of their readers. But for all that we are trying to do as bloggers, we are not doing enough. — kob
July 18th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Thanks for your thoughts on violence in the District. I don’t know what anyone can do to change this pattern, especially as the economy takes a dive and our empire continues to fall apart at the seams.
I’m not sure that murderers read blogs, especially humanizing blogs. And I’m pretty sure that bloggers themselves, by blogging, will make much of a difference. But thanks so much for the heart felt post.
I pray for peace. I’ll keep doing that. What else is there?
with love,
Reya
July 18th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Nice typo. Meant to say I’m pretty sure bloggers will NOT make a difference by blogging. But maybe we can. Who knows?
July 18th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Thanks for posting about the violence in DC – it is out of control — Chief Ramsey was a mess when he was in – and Chief Lanier I am not too impressed – I don’t think Fenty made the right choice.
A 12 part series on chandra levy is just plain silly – may she rest in peace, but we could become the murder capitol of the world again
July 18th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Stories like the rehash of the Chandra Levy tragedy usually only come out during “a slow news summer.” We all know that there’s plenty of good and bad news to go around. The case needs to be solved, but rehashing it in the Post seems like wasted ink and paper. I can only hope thst someone, somewhere is reminded of something that might help.
Congress and the Supreme Court need to take some of the blame for DC’s crime problems. Voting down our gun control laws, imperfect as they were, was outrageous. Still, I don’t understand why, with practiically every fed. agency and Metro having it’s own police forces, DC still has such a high crime rate. Could and should they somehow coordinate their efforts with the city? Is it possible?
July 18th, 2008 at 11:47 am
You make an excellent point. As I posted earlier in the week ( http://tiny.cc/h7JJn ), there are currently over 400 unsolved homicides in DC since 2002 — perhaps there should be a day when as many DC bloggers as possible agree to post a short “profile” of one of the victims so that their stories are not lost in all the Chandra-rehashing… I’d participate.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
In addition to the events you cite, a neighbor in our building near 13th & Clifton was followed into the building and attacked last week – in our lobby. The week before there was a shooting murder on the same street.
Crime is out of control in Columbia Heights. We are pushing to get a meeting with Jim Graham (my expectations of him are not high) and the police department next week.
I am hoping bloggers can make a difference and at least hold our elected officials accountable. Somehow violent crime seems to be an “acceptable risk” for living DC. I have never seen an attitude like this anywhere else in the world.
July 18th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[...] Published July 19, 2008 DC , blogosphere , public safety Tags: crime, violence The violence in the District is out of control A man and a woman from Falls Church are in car near Howard University. Six men approach in what may [...]
July 18th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Reya: Thanks — you may be right.
ch20210: agree with your assessment about the police; there doesn’t seem to be any real effective response.
Peg: good idea. I mean, I’ve read enough stories about Park Police giving tickets on city streets if they happen to observe bad driving ….
CPO: That is a good post!
James .. I think there needs be better reporting on this. I have no idea how extensive the crime is. The more horrific crimes seem to manage a news brief. Anything involving an elected official gets a 12-part series, but for everyone else who is shot, robbed, jumped in building lobbies, it is all hit and miss whether these crimes are reported in the press of not. I know of no blog that has any crimes reports except for a few discrete areas. I almost feel that with some intel — real data, as close to real time as possible, more people may become of aware of what’s happen, patterns will be spotted and the response from the community and political leaders much more effective. Hmmmmmmmmm. Imagine if bloggers had easy access to a centralized pool of data ………..