Bomb Squad Investigating Abandoned Greenpeace Stuffed Bear At Columbia Heights

Not that the topic needs to be dragged through the news any more on the DC blogs, but homeless polar bears holding signs that say “SOS” are not the works of random activists. Ready for the surprise? It’s Greenpeace at it again. Man, those guys are so clever.

It has been an amusing protest of off-shore drilling and we all get the message, but can’t we continue without wasting the valuable resources of DC? On Tuesday a suspicious package shut down the Columbia Heights Metro station during the morning. It turned out to be a gigantic stuffed polar bear that Greenpeace left by a garbage can outside of the Metro without informing authorities. The taxpayers paid to send the bomb squad out, but Greenpeace got their message on the news, so we can be happy about it without complaining.

Yesterday another bear was placed by the Reflection Pool, leaving park rangers to spend their time, energy, and most importantly their attention dealing with the bear and getting Greenpeace on the news again.

Politics are all over Washington, DC. I point to the nuclear proliferation protesters who sit in front of the White House as an example of a good protest. The authorities know that they are there, and they do not leave their protest materials unattended for police to deal with at the taxpayer’s expense.

By all means Greenpeace, get your message out there by putting people in bear costumes on the side of US-50 (see post below by Frank), but don’t think for a moment that Washington will take your message seriously if you delay their Metros and basically use police resources to get press. Not cool.

I took the above picture (on the phone-sorry for the blurry) this past Saturday at 23rd and Constitution-right where it turns into US-50 just south of Foggy Bottom.  My first thought “Well yeah you need help-you’re a Polar Bear and it’s sweltering out here!”

My second thought was an incredibly geeky thought that had to do with Lost, time-space travel and “Moving the Island.”  I won’t recount it fully here. 

After going back and forth over whether it was a person in a suit or just a suit (we determined it was just a suit) it appears I wasn’t the only person wondering if the National Zoo had become so overcrowded that Polar Bears had taken to wandering the streets homeless.  In what is likely another artsy/kinda vague/have to think about it for a minute demonstration/protest it appears that citizens concerned about global warming have been putting polar bear suits at different locales around the city in homeless garb. (As a friend put it “Ohhhhhh so like if Global Warming causes the ice to melt, like in Alaska, then the Polar Bears would be homeless! I totes get it!”)

Or at least that is the best guess so far-no one knows for sure. 

The Post picked up the story when one bear was called in as a suspicious package (it wasn’t, but-hey it could have been.  I mean The Dark Knight came out this summer and this would be a Joker-esque way to cause chaos…right?).  Add that to  fact that the demonstrators have yet to step forward to claim/explain the stunt, or even say how long it will go on for, and it leaves the question of what the ultimate disposition will be?

What about you DC?  Have you seen bears?  Lions?  Tigers?  Is this stunt going to get the point across, or will it be lost on all of us?  Know who’s responsible or have a good guess?  Then leave some comments, would ya?

The possibility that a large homeless shelter may be closed will go before City Council amid accusations by opponents that the homeless are being forced out to make way for developers and the big business that people are used to seeing on K Street.

Watch the Fox5 report here.

To the public, major mortgage companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had mixed records. On one hand, the past few months have been marred with reports that reckless lending to unqualified borrowers has left the company in shambles, with all borrowers and investors affected.

And on the other hand, Washington, DC knows first hand that the mortgagors were involved in a great deal of charity work, perhaps despite their inability to afford it in the last couple months. According to an NBC 4 story, the women’s homeless shelter N Street Village is now worried that their donations could end now that their biggest supporter, Fannie Mae, is controlled by the federal government.

Their concerns are legitimate. The federal government has already said that the investors are out of luck, that dividends will no longer be paid, so where is room for charity? Maybe the Feds will feel bad and put N Street Village on “welfare.” But it is a real shame that the government did not let events with Fannie Mae play out.

Without a government takeover of Fannie Mae, the company would have been forced to make some really difficult decisions- they would have had no choice but to slash their mortgage load to disinclude unqualified borrowers. They would have had no choice but to tell the world that borrowing does not make you rich enough to buy a McMansion, it makes you poorer.

If unable to fix their horrendous business mistakes, they would have gone out of business, and new entrepreneurs would have filled their gap in the market, likely with a better game plan, and the need to reach out to the community with charity like Fannie Mae.

But instead, look what has happened. Our federal government has grown by leaps and bounds, with mortgaging soon to be as poorly run as DMV. Instead, every charity that Fannie Mae supported may be out of luck. And instead, all the taxpayers and not the businessmen at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will be financially responsible for almost $5 trillion in faulty mortgages.

What is this?

I had a considerable wait last night at the Adams Morgan Metro stop after having a beer with my brother, who is in town for CPAC. No, I don’t agree with his politics; I just drink beer with him when the opportunity arises.

Anyway, I was waiting for my train and saw one of those weird contraptions pictured at right. I have often seen these and wondered if they are the chemical sniffers Metro has installed in many of the stations. Can anyone out there tell me for sure?

About a minute after I took this picture, I heard a commotion and saw a visibly drunk woman being guided by a visibly more sober man. She was talking loudly and weaving as she moved. As she approached the above machine, she gave it a good kick and laughed like a hyena. She continued to walk around, being helped along, kept from falling on the rails by his steady hand.

Adams Morgan Drunk

When one train came the man got on, looking very relieved to be done with her and like he hoped she wouldn’t join him. It appeared to be a satyisfactory ending to a bad date, at least for him. I looked around the corner and saw her, sitting on the floor, going through her purse. The train took off and she remained. I tried to stay close in case she needed help, but also wanted to be out of range of a drunken eruption. Eventually my train came and she got on as well and passed out, so I was glad she was at least on her way somewhere.

Remember the old days when alcoholism was funny? Remember Otis from The Andy Griffith Show? Remember how the big thing was to not let him get behind the wheel and how funny it was that he had to be under half-time supervision? Remember the Drunken Master, of Jackie Chan fame, and all his humorous antics? Seeing drunks up close is not nearly as funny as when they are on the screen. It reminds me of my days working in a homeless shelter and seeing people with various substance abuse issues trying to get back on their feet. At least then it was hopeful because people were trying to change, regardless of their success in that endeavor. This woman on Metro last night - that’s just sad.

There’s nothing like a drunk to make you want to take a drink or quit drinking altogether.

I found this recent news release interesting. Apparently A-SPAN mouthed off a little about the quality of the shelter so the County decided to kick them to the curb. What do you think about this issue? I think bad-mouthing the facility you are supposed to be running is pretty irresponsible.

From the Arlington County Web Site:

The Arlington County Department of Human Services (DHS) will take over day-to-day operation of the community’s Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS) effective today, Mon., Feb. 4.

The County terminated its contract with the Arlington Street People’s Network (A-SPAN) to operate and provide services at the facility, which is located near Courthouse Metro.

“No disruption of services will occur,” said DHS Director Susanne Eisner. “The Emergency Winter Shelter will remain open, safe, and available to meet the emergency wintertime needs of homeless persons in the community.”

Contract termination
Arlington County terminated the contract after A-SPAN informed the County that it intended to terminate the contract. In addition, in recent days, Arlington’s DHS officials became increasingly concerned over A-SPAN’s operation of the shelter. “When A-SPAN made irresponsible statements, saying that homeless persons are better off sleeping outside than in the EWS, we lost faith in their ability and willingness to run the shelter,” commented Eisner.

Inspections last week performed by the Arlington County Fire Marshal and the Arlington County building inspectors found that the EWS is safe and meets all building codes.

Read more

It’s chilly out there this morning, so I hope you brought your coat and gloves. Should be much like this through the rest of the week. Look out at the weekend for the longterm forecast, and it’s going to be really freakin’ cold. Like, stay inside and don’t do anything cold. Just be aware. On to the news, where everything that’s old is new again…

Police Have Break in 1996 Missing Persons Case

DC Police have a major announcement in the 1996 Shaquita Bell case. Bell’s been missing, presumed dead, for 11 years with no leads. Apparently, the MPD is going to announce that Bell’s boyfriend Michael Dickerson was involve in her disappearance, and was likely her murderer. They have a 10:30 conference planned to detail what they believe happened.

Montgomery County Changes Homeless Plan

In 2002, Montgomery County vowed to end homelessness within 10 years. Six years later, and with the homeless population at the same rate as at the signing of the law, they’re changing their plan to help fight homelessness. Using $4 Million from the Housing Initiative Fund, they will pay for rent subsidies and other services to help combat homelessness.

Police Arrest Teller in Odd Bank Robberies

Last week we talked about an odd bank robbery involving a security guard walking out with $370,000. It was one of two of those type of bank robbery in the DC area that day. Turns out, it may have been one of the tellers who was the ringleader for the robberies. She was arrested yesterday after they found a list of names with dollar amounts that approximated the total stolen.

Folks, this is why you use computers and secure erase, mmmkay?

MPD to Increase Presence

This one sounds like a broken record. I know we’ve heard this strain before, but MPD has announced a plan to increase their presence in Adams Morgan and Shaw. Who knows if the outdoor roll calls and beat paths will help stave off violent crime. We will, in about 6 months, be able to tell, I imagine.

Reading this Express article about Metro I-pod overflow reminded me of a story I wrote last year. Here’s a response to their article by way of an excerpt:

Music moves us in ways trains cannot. Thump thumping ear-buds drown out clickety-clacks while swooshing doors vomit suited lemmings onto poles of indifference. Garbled voices warn tourons of doors closing, babies squeal, children nag, the homeless hum. The sub-audible spillover of a thousand I-pods floats through the throng, passing well-toned legs so smooth, between jacketed shoulders brushing together slightly. The sound that isn’t. Unnoticed songs mingle silently, quietly fucking, to conceive - in static-charged air - new music: hybrid mixes that no one seems to hear. Save me.

Giant Rat

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Wednesday night, as Tiff and I were driving to a birthday dinner at Liberty Tavern, we heard this piece on NPR about our favorite group of homeless people employed as protestors. My favorite section of the article was this one:

Most people who pass the picket line don’t look closely at the protesters. Diego Castaneda, a doctoral student from California, snaps a picture of a marcher and gives her a thumbs up.

“I just like seeing people demonstrating and standing up for their rights,” Castaneda said.

But when I tell him the protesters are actually homeless people, his face falls.

“Are you serious?” he says in disbelief. “It’s pretty disingenuous of the union to hire people who aren’t carpenters.”

Yep, folks, it’s pretty shady to hire folks for $8 an hour to protest when your union members won’t actually protest themselves. Not listed in the story page on NPR’s site was the original postscript when the reporter, Frank Langfitt, asked the workers about their wages, and they wanted more money.

He suggested they formed a union.

As I drove in this morning, I saw an odd site as I approached K and 19th Street. It was early this morning, but there was a back-up just before K, which is unusual. As I approached I realized there had been a pretty hefty fender bender nearly right at the intersection and polic had not yet arrived.

Unfortunately that’s not all that odd, but as I got closer I realized that [what appeared to be on first look] a homeless man was directing us drivers to get over to the right lane so that none of us hit, or got stuck behind, the two stopped and smooshed cars. He was doing a great job and frankly without his direction it could have been a messy situation b/c the flashers on the cars weren’t on - and you know how that is when you inadvertently get stuck behind a stopped car and can’t make it back out in to moving traffic. And then make that an entire lane of traffic, and you can image the back-ups for blocks.

So thanks to that guy. That was a cool move - I wonder if he just wanted to jump in to help out, or if one of the drivers asked him to as he was passing by. Hmm.