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old white men.
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no matter what you, me, or your aunt may think of him, putin is by far the most badass world leader, i mean cmon.
clickyclicky for more #politics #russia
via james.
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With President Obama and Republican leaders calling for cutting the budget by trillions over the next 10 years, it is worth asking how we got here - from healthy surpluses at the end of the Clinton era, and the promise of future surpluses, to nine straight years of deficits, including the $1.3 trillion shortfall in 2010. The answer is largely the Bush-era tax cuts, war spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recessions.
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A country with a deficit is not necessarily any more “broke” than a family with a mortgage or a college loan. And states have to balance their budgets…
…Before the union uprising, Wisconsin voters might not have noticed when Mr. Walker approved business tax cuts earlier this year that made his budget gap worse. But now, with his cries of being “broke,” they should listen more closely…
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Speeches about civility will be taken to heart most by those people whose good character renders them unnecessary.
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When you do that, the zombies end up eating your brain - and quite possibly your economy too
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Critics rightly note that Dr. King spoke over and over of the need for this country to acknowledge its “debt to the poor,” calling for an “economic bill of rights” that would “guarantee a job to all people who want to work and are able to work.” In Mr. Beck’s taxonomy, this would make him a Marxist.
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If you find that darkness falls while you’re en route somewhere, it’s best to remain on the bus throughout the night and wait until dawn to exit safely. If the line in question doesn’t run all night, tell the driver you would like to ride with him back to the bus depot at the end of his shift. There you can safely call a cab.
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#bloomingdaledc via Scott Roberts
From: stuart davenport <studavenport @ yahoo.com>
To: tom @ welovedc.com
Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 10:37:38 PM
Subject: Re: [Brookland] Fwd: Big Bear Cafe: Now Including Occupancy Permits- 2006 & 2010
Tom-
If you have any questions please let me know.
Gigi knows that the ANC missed the July 12th deadline to file a protest, and they therefore have no standing in the BBC application. She was informed of this ABRA requirement in early June/July before the deadline, and then was reminded by ABRA the day of the ANC vote.
The below information supplied by Gigi is incorrect. The application with the Office of Zoning was not for a change of our existing use, but for a map amendment to “correct the non-conforming status” of the building. This does not affect the legality of the cafe as it operates now - it affects how the cafe can be treated in the future. It ensures that no-one can take away its commercial status, and it allows the cafe to operate without requirement of special exceptions (BZA, etc.).
The BBC had a certificate of occupancy for 8 seats in 2006, for a grocery/deli. By definition (in 2006), a deli was a place with prepared food, and a restaurant was a place with sit-down seating. Because we were allowed seats we were then able to get a restaurant license when we opened in 2006 and operate as we do now - as a restaurant.
The main problem was that we could only get 8 seats when we opened, and we told the ANC this in 2007 when we asked for support in bringing our cafe into compliance. This is documented in the minutes. During the process, however, I was able to get the increased seating through a zoning/structural/building review through a Certificate of Occupancy building permit and we completed the construction work in 2008. In spite of Gigi`s claim that she does not feel the cafe space is big enough for the increased seating, load calculations were done by the structural review coordinator as well as fire code review coordinator at DCRA. The work was also fully approved by the DCRA zoning administrator, mechanical engineer, electrical and plumbing engineers, etc.. With this approved building permit we then did not need to pay the large fees to file our map amendment case.
I reviewed these issues with Com. Bonds and Gigi, and filed a full detailed report with the ANC when Gigi requested it in June. To this date, she and Barrie Danneker continue to state the facts incorrectly to the ANC, the public, and the press.
My mistake was to not file the final documents for the final C of O after all work was completed and approved with the building permits. In April, 2010 we informed the ANC and ABRA that the documents still needed to be filed and ABRA said it was not a problem in our application. They did require that it be filed before our application could be approved in the preliminary review. This was done April 23, 2010. Around the same time we decided to file the map amendment case with the office of zoning because it was also a requirement in our application, and also because negative statements were being made by Com. Danneker and Com. Ransom to the public through the Washington City Paper website. Our ABRA reviewer had no problem with the fact that the map amendment was not complete and would take time.
As you can see, the process has been complicated.
I have given Gigi multiple reports on all of these facts, but she continues to present the facts incorrectly.
She also filed a complaint with the Office of Campaign Finance and I was told to not participate in the conversation or communicate with the ANC in any deliberation or ongoing discussion. She then documented in the final ANC Resolution protesting the BBC that I was not responding openly to ANC requests.
Also, we passed out fliers door to door before completing our ABRA application, and held a community meeting on May 18th with residents who raised concerns (which contradicts the ANC claim that we did not reach out to concerned residents). I also notified the residents when the placards were posted on May 28th (which was our only legal requirement for public notification). We then presented to numerous civic associations and to the residents at the ANC meeting and we all agreed at the direction of Chair Anita Bonds to a June 2nd deadline for a voluntary agreement. The neighborhood group then did not respond to numerous requests, and the deadline passed. The group then protested the BBC license just before the July 12th petition period deadline.
There are numerous accusations - including not having a private trash service (under contract since 2006), not having an alcohol license for wine tastings (covered under an ABC caterer`s license), not having permits for music (which are not required in DC law), and not having a DDOT permit for outdoor seating (permitted by DDOT, and fully insured during a full sidewalk cafe permit application process).
The facts in the ANC resolution as stated were inaccurate.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns and I will do my best to address them.
You can reach me at studavenport@gmail.com
-Stuart
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#bloomingdaledc #dc #streetcarsdc
More fun facts about Mr.Gray and his adventures.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/debonis/2010/06/before_raiding_streetcar_funds.html
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#bloomingdaledc #dc
Gray on Bike Lanes and Smart Growth
“I thought they were high when they did [the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes]. They are really ludicrous.”
- Gray doesn’t bike, but he supports bike riding and encourages it as energy efficient.
- Reserved bike lanes in some areas of the city (i.e. 9th Street NW) back of traffic. In other areas, the lack of bike lanes have the same result. The lanes do not seem well planned. “I’m not sure we have figured out how to do it yet,” said Gray.
- Pennsylvania Avenue lanes are particularly dangerous.
- Supports transit-oriented development around metro stations.
- theother35percent: I didn’t get the impression that installing more bike lanes would be high on Gray’s priority list.
Gray on Church Parking
“I’m not suggesting blame on either side.”
- Gray acknowledge that the city should enforce the law when drivers block crosswalks, hydrants, or other cars on Sundays.
- He’ll work with the community and churches to solve the problem.
- theother35percent: Ironic that Gray makes a stink about how Maryland and Virginia residents don’t have to pay DC taxes, but then suggests out-of-state residents who ignore DC law have equally valid concerns with DC residents who have legitimate safety and quality-of-life issues.
Just want to say few things about this.
Church Parking - i do not care what you are doing and how you are doing it. If you double park and block hydrants or even jaywalk, ticket them.
I would dispatch a team of parking enforces to the areas highly affected by this plague. Few people complained about STREET PARKING (meaning public, does not belong to anyone, treat it like one of the elements) when BigBearCafe was trying to open up. Ticket and tax if out of state: MD, VA
Bike Lanes - Where do people work? Where do people live? If they bike, give them bike lanes. Q, R, and T street bike lanes are magical! Several years ago there were none. I’d be curious to see the statistics among bicycle/vehicle collisions before/after the bikes lanes were in place. I’m just worried Mr.Gray would remove the bike lanes all together, since it is not his priority.
These are my two cents.
Quotes above are from here.
It is almost long weekend people. Get excited.
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power. pure power.
this spaceperson made this theme, i slightly tweaked it. notimenotimenotime
