I'm not dead yet...

...Just resting my eyes and laying real still. I'm a little exhausted with politics for the moment, having spent a good part of the year in the losing corner.

Next week, the spouse, kids (and 1 significant other!) I will be gathering strength at the lake. And yes, kind members of the County Council, we'll burn plenty of sweet Exxon gold to get there.

Someday, I'd like to see a story on the vacation habits and environmental footprints of our local eco-warriors. Hmm...

More to come after the break...

Repubs turn repugnant…

The republican corpse in moco emitted a foul stench yesterday. Instead of taking the opportunity to come off as reasonable in the face of the all-dem council’s dalliance with male crossdressers and womens’ lockerooms, the repubs came off as whacked in the head social extremists.

According to the Gazette, one repub central committee member even shouted ‘‘Heil Hitler!” at the county council. Someone should inform Mr. Owen-Williams of Godwin’s law. Better still, someone should explain to him that under Hitler’s Reich, homosexuals and transgenders were certain to get a one-way trip to the furnace – an extreme solution that is certainly diametrically opposite to what the council did.

The amendment that put pre-op transgenders into women’s restrooms elicited the usual eye rolling “Oh God, here they go again” or “have they nothing better to do with their time” from my friends and neighbors. A smarter opposition party could have capitalized on these sentiments and the council's paralysis on more critical issues. Instead their vitriol reaffirmed to voters that the party in charge is the more reasonable.

Rolling down a river...

The Rollingwood community was just told once again to take a hike. Former Mayor of Garrett Park Floreen and former Takoma Park town councilman Elrich, joined the majority of the county council this morning in slamming the door... oops, I mean, sending the matter of municipal incorporation to further study in a compassionate, collaborative fashion...

Kudos to Valerie Ervin, for being the only member who voted against the resolution to deny incorporation. Thank you, Valerie for supporting the democratic process...

Fricked over...

...is how some are feeling following the central committee's selection of Bill Frick to fill out Marilyn Goldwater's term in the General Assembly. Bill's a nice enough guy, and will be a team player. And that's exactly how Senator Brian Frosh wants it.

The also rans may want to take notice. Payback and political accomodation is easy in secret ballot and political parties have never been democratic operations...

Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Bloom County spent much of its run lampooning conservative Christianity - without censorship. Now in the 21st century, American newspapers have censored Bloom County's sucessor, Opus for lampooning conservative Islam - twice. So much for the progressive values we hold so dear.

Eaten alive...

Well, my relaxing Saturday morning weeding the flower beds went terribly wrong. In what could have been a scene from a horror movie, I was litterally eaten alive by Asian Tiger Mosquitos. Today I count seven mosquito bites on my ankles, arms, neck and ears.

The Asian Tiger Mosquito bites all day long and is quite persistent about its work. Given the ineffectiveness of spraying, or unwillingness of environmentalists and local political leaders to consider spraying, these little buggers have become a plague in communities like mine. No wonder we never hear kids outside as we did five years ago! (Ok, maybe some of those kids are now in college, but work with me.)

My spouse and I are now seriously considering adding a screened in room or a sunroom to the back of our house. Sadly, the new room would replace our flower beds, but hey, there's always indoor gardening...

Backing out of a tight spot...

At the urging of Valerie Ervin and Ike Leggett, the council is backing away from its poorly thought out approval of increased fees and Saturday hours for meters in Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Wheaton parking lots.

The likely action comes after Silver Spring and Wheaton businesses learned of the new parking charges and raised Cain, flooding the council with angry calls. Earlier testimony from businesses in affluent Bethesda, where new monies are not needed, was ignored.

Council members are blaming others for the debacle. George Leventhal even went so far to say, "There is really only one supporter of the parking fees in the room, and that is staff."

That's not entirely true, George. Back in May, Roger Berliner claimed the action was the best "mix between valuing parking and making sure that we don’t harm our business community" and could bolster Bethesda business by increasing turnover in parking spaces.

Listening to constituents is a good thing. Seeking out input (and actually paying attention to what you're voting on) before decisions are made is even better...