An UPdate About MPD's Finest CarSurfing!

I reported last Monday that Jason Lamberton took few pictures of Metropolitan Police Department officer carsurfing down the street. Little did I know that it'd generate lots of hits from several sources.

Jason Lamberton and I got phone calls from several media outlets and it was certainly interesting experience to handle them. I also got an email from AOL's GLBT Editor asking me to submit a picture of myself so that they can do a profile on my blog sooner or later.

The original entry that started it all is here.

DCist, a premier blog for DC residents, mentioned my blog in this entry.

Jason Lamberton added his comments as well but he is not done with his entry -- you can find it here. Jason is bit overwhelmed and amused by the attention that he received from the media outlets.

NBC 4 came to Jason Lamberton's home and interviewed him about this as well. I got emails from friends who said they saw me on the videophone with Jason Lamberton during the interview. The problem is that I never saw the camcorder at all. You can find this article on NBc4.com's website.

Finally, the MPD First District said that this guy would probably be reprimanded or suspended. Good for him. I mean, if he can ticket us for doing that, why can't we do the same thing? Like Jason said, "Can we make the citizen's arrest on the cops?"

Good question. However, being overwhelmed with these calls and emails from different people related to this fiasco, I was relieved to escape to the gym to work out today. I need an outlet to let it go. And I was relieved that I did it today or I'd go insane!

I guess, it was one interesting day.

Cheers,

R-

1.17.06 Tidbits

Film Review of Madagascar: At one point, I noticed that the penguins asked a monkey about what a poster was saying. The monkey said, "I can't read but he can, he is deaf." He pointed to another monkey, who went on to sign as the hearing monkey interpreted for the penguins. I quickly went back and do the slow motion -- much to my astonishment, the DreamWorks got it right! They signed Africa right. They spelled voyage right. They totally nailed on this! Great job. The penguins totally stole the film from the rest of characters. Who cannot love these psychotic penguins, really?

Al Amel Institute for the Deaf and Mute Is Now Open: Ahh, a new deaf school in Mosul, Iraq is now opening -- but c'mon, get with the program -- don't use that word, mute. It is inappropriate. But one day, they will figure it out and remove the word.

Al Amel Institute for the Deaf and Mute Grand Opening
By Captain Marcus Grimes

MOSUL, IRAQ, 12 DEC 05 -- There was an anticipatory buzz in the atmosphere at the Al Amel Institute for the Deaf and Mute as the soldiers of the 172d Stryker Brigade arrived to help celebrate the grand re-opening of this unique school. As the soldiers came in, the teachers could not contain their pupils excitement. Every child in this small school, which is situated high above the Tigris River in Downtown Mosul, cringed their necks and pasted their faces against the windows in their classrooms to see what the soldiers brought.

The atmosphere became absolutely electric as the soldiers unloaded their vehicles. The children saw new backpacks each stuffed with rulers, pencils, crayons, books, paper, and other school supplies. Their eyes popped when a soldier, doing his best to emulate Santa carrying his pack, came in carrying a bag of soccer balls.

Soldiers milled about in a central foyer area, trying to look comfortable while wearing body armor, helmets, eye protection, gloves, and carrying rifles. All the while, they tried to communicate with the children, wave to the kids and smile at the teachers. Each time a soldier took a picture, the children would gather around to get to see the image on the digital camera.

Mr. Ahmer Jihad, the Mayor of Mosul, the principal of the school Vice Headmaster Alkrem Abdul Kareem, had the honor of cutting the ceremonial ribbon. After the ribbon cutting each had a few comments for the local press, each child in the school lined up very orderly to receive their new backpack followed by cake. Just like any other kid, they tore into their cake and frosting with vigor. Immediately they went into exploring their new backpacks and showcasing each feature to whatever Soldier was near.

The kids were very well behaved and loved to try to communicate with all the soldiers. In the four months in Iraq, I never regretted not being able to speak Arabic, but today, I regretted not knowing at least some sign language to communicate with the kids. Even without words or signs, everyone in attendance knew the children had one thing to say: Thank you.

Hat tip to PJ for this information. The article can be found on this website.

Marion Downs Hearing Center Plans To Discourage ASL: A certain reader warned me that in Aurora, Colorado, The University of Colorado's Marion Downs Hearing Center has received some million dollars to build a new center, they intend to set up an infant program for deaf infants with the intention to study them related to speech and hearing abilities; they already instituted a policy that it forbade American Sign Language to be used for these children. It was said that the Deaf Community in Denver does not know much about this because the Center is keeping it low profile. If the center received money from any government, it may violate some kind of laws. Any opinions on this subject? Hat tip to Jules.

It is SO true: The changes in suburbia is not pretty. In fact, it is American's greatest tragedy, really! Hat tip to Philip.

Happy Birthday, Ben! Benjamin Franklin turns 300 today on January 17, 1706. He was not the perfect man in any sense but he was great American. He has many flaws in his character but he is man of many things. It is no secret that Philadelphia still is infatuated wtih Benjamin Franklin and William Penn after these years. But I should mention what Benjamin Franklin once said: They Who Would Give Up An Essential Liberty For Temporary Security Deserve Neither Liberty Or Security

Weighlifting Result? At the gym, I officially lost 19 pounds. And I'm not quitting. I'll stick to the plan and yeah, I'm heading out of town next week. I am looking forward to that.

Cheers,

R-

1.16.06 Tidbits

Mayor Ray Nagin Loses His Marbles: Mayor Ray Nagin said that he felt that God wanted New Orleans to be "chocolate" New Orleans. Then he said that God punished America with natural disasters. And he said he had an imaginary conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King about the African Americans' place in this country. Perhaps, he is burn out and is starting to spew things that does not make any sense. After all, the city of New Orleans needed a sane leader, perhaps it is time to change the guards?

Brokeback Mountain Wins 4 Golden Globe Awards: Brokeback Mountain won 4 Golden Globe Awards in Best Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Song. And Brokeback Mountain, is not still captioned after 41 days (and still counting!). Shameful. And we are stuck with InSightCinema.org's domination of OC movies across the nation -- how great is that?!

Jesus Christ The Musical! This is hilarious! If you laugh at this movie, you may go to Hell! Hearing readers, I'd appreciate if you can say what it was being said. I thought this was great!

Bush Supporter's Son Dead But Could Not Get Answers: But at least, Bush told her that he will look in this matter -- later, Bush had his campaign to contact the mother of dead soldier to be participate in a commercial to support him. Disgrace.

Virginia Basketball: 2-0 Versus Virginia Tech! Good riddance! Today, Lyndra Littles led the Cavaliers WB team to a 78-59 triumph over No. 18 Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg. Up next is ... No. 6 Maryland Terrapins! Darlene and Sandy, I'll videophone you when Virginia savagely trashed your Twerps.

CSD's SIGNews: I was informed by Grant that the issue of SIGNews has been out and I was mentioned in that article as well. You may read the scanned articles on Grant's blog. If you want to read the complete article which I did mention last night, you may check this link.

And Last, As for Bitch Session's ShoutBox: It is taken out because many readers complained that they had a difficult time reading my blog via the sidekick and others. Plus, I kept on getting lots of emails asking me to resume once-a-month bitchin' n' brawlin' sessions. Mainly, my concern, first and foremost of all, is the access for readers to read without any struggles. The readership has steadily grow from less than hundred a day into near 500 per day. The expectations! The expectations!

Cheers,

R-

MPD's Finest Surfing Down The 'Hood

Last night, I got an email from Jason Lamberton regarding the pictures. Jason wrote on the email that reads: "omg! Luckily I had my camera in my pocket when I saw the darned cop cars whiz by with sirens blazin, delinquent cop sittin' on the hood laughin'."

In fact, this is not the first time I saw this happen in the District. It was about 5 or 6 years ago near Gallaudet when I saw a similar situation where a cop rode on the hood of a patrol car whooshing me and my friends.

But this time, Jason has the pictures to prove it. Last night at 4:58 PM, he snapped four pictures that showed two patrol cars racing down the I Street NE at about 30 MPH. Jason was surprised to see the police officer riding on the hood of patrol car #162, laughing as it ran past the stop sign on I Street and 8th Street NE along with 3 cars following them by. All of the cars had the sirens on.

"It was VERY inappropriate of them to do that. My good friend, Darrell Ritter, did this once and nearly died. He was not the same person after that incident," Jason said. Darrell had cracked his skull -- he developed amnesia and seizures from that incident.

Upon calling the First District Station of DC's Metropolitan Police Department via the videophone, I got in touch with Sargeant Kevin Graham who asked me to send him the pictures of the cops surfing on the hood of the city-owned cars. I asked him what the official policy of MPD when it comes to things like that. Sgt. Graham said, "The officers are not permitted to ride on the hood of police cars. Mainly because of safety reasons. Other than that, I needed to get in touch with the person who took the pictures to find out who it was."

Not only that, Jason Lamberton measured the speed limit in these pictures and came to conclusion that the cops also violated the speed limit as well, going over the residential speed limit in that neighborhood.

Lamberton said in exasperation, "What if this cop got injured, guess who got billed with thousands of dollars in medical bills? The taxpayers of DC!! Not only that, and what if he [the cop] died? Darrell ALMOST died. Now we are talking about millions in life insurance, compensatory costs, bevearement, funeral, court costs! what about the cop's family? he got wife and kids?! Smashing ur skull against the hard asphalt and granite curb (DC has granite and marble curbsides) will require massive amounts of MRI and CAT scans to track the brain's injuries and healing -- it costs thousands PER scan! Now, if the skull cracks and the brain hemorrhages, it will require emergency brain surgery and some follow-ups -- brain surgery, that's another like 100 - 500,000 dollars!"

"I ain't paying for some cop car-surfing thru taxes. DC has like 600,000 people so that tangibly impacts the people, especially poor people if they have to pay like $5 in taxes for some stupid cop's actions! Ahhhh how that really reflects the true character and color of DC -- lousy, corrupt cops -- lousy, corrupt citizens! If a catastrophe hit DC, we'll witness New Orleans all over again. I'm frustrated, I tell you!"

Click on All Images To Enlarge
Note: All images are owned by Jason Lamberton.

Stay tuned for further information on First District Station whether if they will do something about it. Or bury it as usual?

Cheers,

R-

P.S. This entry is my 1,500th in less than 3 years. Thank you, readers!

MLK Weekend Tidbits

War of the Worlds: I finally got to see it today. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed the film! It was different viewpoint, really. Steven Spielberg spent $132 million to produce this film and it made a modest profit but many reviews jeered at the film. I think it was Tom Cruise's fault. His repeated comments about the Church of Scientology prior to the release of the film really harmed the film. What makes this film enjoyable and appealling to me is that many films would take us to know what our government leaders do in this crisis, there is none of this in this particular film. In fact, the society simply disintegrated. Nobody had the time to find out if DC existed or not. They relied on rumors, innuendos and all that speculations. As of now, Mom is watching it as I type ...

Few Comments About Jack Abramoff Scandal: Check this entry done by Deaf blogger whom I agreed. Too bad many Conservative pigs and Republican fools are trying to make it "bipartisan". Well said, Magatsu!

Bar Scene In Richmond: I really hated the bar scene in Richmond. It is saturated with smokers. I barely can breathe. My shirts stink! Few days ago, one guy attempted to talk to me in a bar that does not have good lightning system. I could not barely understand what he said. He snapped and wrote on the napkin, "You need to go back to school to work on lipreading and speech." I told him to get lost. He backed off and said, "I was joking." I said to him that it does not matter, just get lost. Can't wait to get out of town in few days. On a bright side, the American Lung Association is proposing a bill to the City Council to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and in public places. Expect this to lose the votes since Richmond is the Capital of Tobacco World. But at least, it is only the start ... maybe persistence by submitting the proposal at every council meetings for years and do the right thing.

Oh, yeah, last night, observed 10 different men in tuxedos mingling at Barcode. Apparently, they were part of Inaugural Ball which is held few blocks from the bar. Umm.

Two Florida Teenagers Arrested: Few days ago, I was startled to see a segment of brutal beatings on homeless guy by two teenagers who seemed to think it was fun. One homeless person died in three attacks. Two teenagers were arrested and I bet you that people will say that they were teenagers and go easy on them. Please. They should be punished as accord to the law. It was premeditated murder. Why? They planned to whack people with baseball bats, that object is very dangerous. They knew it but did it anyway.

Drandma Would Be 86 By Now: Last Wednesday, after doing some errands, I realized that I was in the vicinity where Drandparents were laid to rest. So I hastened to a nearby floral shop and went to Westhampton Cemetary. More than 100 Canadian geese roamed around the cemetary which is quite a sight to behold. In fact, ducks and geese are beautiful animals. When I approached the burial site, it rained lightly. I hadn't been to the site in many years. Let's say that I was glad I visited. Ahh, it was also fitting to check in because Drandma's birthday was two weeks ago.

A Suicidal Teenager Dies Again: What again? It is sort of a pattern among many police departments throughout the United States. In Florida, this troubled teenager 15 years old boy was bullied at school decided to paint the toy gun black and brandished at himself, other students, teachers and last, the cops. The cops shot him in the head, then he was brain dead -- the cops said the gun looked real enough. Now this article came out that several people told the cops repeatedly that the gun is fake, including the father and the victim who felt the gun. No police officer listened.

I have two lingering questions: 1. Why shoot him in the head? Why not legs? Why not pelvis? Why not something else other than the head? 2. Why did not they listen to the others that the gun was fake?

Don't tell me that this situation was unique. In fact, it happened in Detroit, where a low functional deaf man argued with his mother and he signed wildly (like many Deaf people do when they are pissed off), the neighbors and family members shouted at the cops that he was deaf. They did not listen and shot him dead. In Denver, similar situation happened to a deaf man after people shouted that he's deaf, cops did not listen.

See the pattern? Even in automobile accidents that involved Deaf drivers, passengers or witnesses, the police officers always told Deaf people to wait while they interviewed everyone else who can hear and speak then turned to Deaf people and dismissed them or even in some situations, gave the tickets to Deaf people based on what others said without taking Deaf persons' comments as well!

This is why I am always cautious, irritated and wary of these pigs in action.

Cheers,

R-

Friday the 13th Was Yesterday?

Thanks, defBef! When I was in New York for the memorial service of Sarah Pack, I spent the time with Beth which I detailed not a long time ago. I did not mention that Beth chose me to be the next person to carry the particular book titled, The Pornographer's Poem, by Michael Turner. Beth said that she was trying to figure out who would appreciate the novel -- she knew I'd appreciate and liked it as well. Turns out she was right as usual. IN fact, its opening was bit confusing and it seems to be easy just to put the book down ... but if you continue reading up to 60 pages in a row, that's when you'll start to enjoy the book. I finally read it last night and was done with it in few hours (269 pages in all). All I can say about the book is that life is bitch just like that.

Tornado Warning: In the last 4 days, the weather has been very balmy and warmer. I knew that the cold front would push down eventually but if it does, it often caused thunderstorms. Last night, I was startled by four TV sets at a local bar flashing bright red with white words that warned the viewers that tornado warning is in effect. I went back to the house to tell everyone else in the house to put the shoes on until the effect is over. Common sense, remember that? Sure enough, tornadoes touched down in the Carolinas.

What About Mark Warner? If the Democrats really wanted to get a moderate Democrat to run for the US President instead of Hillary Clinton, they should try Mark Warner of Virginia. Today, in Richmond Times-Dispatch, there was a full-page message for Mark Warner by several corporations, thanked him for his great work in 4 years. Mark Warner departed his position with the 75% approval rate from all Virginians. That is remarkably high. If not Hillary, Mark would be a good candidate.

As for Johnathan Katz! It turns out that this professor at Washington University (Missouri) is well-known for his anti-gay comments, anti-disabled comments and many others. One reader alerted me that she received an email from Johnathan Katz who dismissed her comments about the deaf lifeguard being recognized in Galveston, Texas for saving hundreds of lives. She forwarded me the emails -- it was nasty, folks.

Movies To Watch Tonite: Since the weather is shitty outside, I'm going to watch two DVD flicks: War of the Worlds and Madagascar. Should be fun and entertaining.

About Brokeback Mountain: 39 days (more than 5 weeks) has passed since the release of Brokeback Mountain in the United States. And I just checked InsightCinema as of today, no movie theater in the United States has an open caption for that film. I'm still waiting while the fucking hearing people are enjoying themselves. *sigh*

About Zawhiri: Yes, I am liberal but I believe that the termination of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawhiri is beneficial to the world community. By removing the head of the snake, everything will fall apart. But why do I want him dead since I do not believe in death penalty? Well, I do not approve the death penalty at all. But these two figures will not reason nor compromise -- in fact, they killed and boasted about it and said they will continue to do so.

Yes, I personally think the Bush Administration's handling of terrorism are appalling at its best. It is disgrace. We could not locate a 6'5 saudi on kidney dialysis living in Afghanistan, for God's sake! Where is the one-eye Mullah Omar?! Kidnap and transport the accused terrorists without giving them the due process is inhumane, period. But Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawhiri are unique -- they are guilty of their crimes upon humanity. They boasted about it -- it is better to kill them.

But I just learned today that the CIA bombed a village in Pakistan was based on erroneous information. 18 people were killed. Ahh. The search continues.

Cheers,

R-

Why I Loved the LSH?

In 1991, when I first entered Gallaudet as a freshman, never did I meet a loyal fan for Legion of Super-Heroes, affectionately known to the fans as LSH. I was aware of its loyal fan base for the futuristic books set in 30th Century -- but I was never a particular fan of futuristic books because the future they often portrayed is clean, beautiful and all that. But these LSH fans (I distinctly remembered them: Clyde, Elliott and DeNisco) insisted that it is not what it is all about. Years later, when I realized my favorite characters were portrayed in LSH more frequently, I had to buy and read these back issues. They were simply great.

The 30th Century (between 2974 to 2995) saw that the countries on Earth has unified as one world government known as EarthGov, also allied to the United Planets scattered throughout the universe. Sounds like a perfect utopia?

But not with LSH's vol. 4 (Issued from 1 to 65, check the timeline if you want to), written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum and Keith Giffen. IN fact, they made this particular series very dark and tragic before the DC Comics decided to wipe the future timeline off with its stupid Zero Hour storyline.

I was impressed with the storyline -- the dialogues were pretty real and funny. For instance, when Ayla Ranzz met a younger clone of herself, Ayla Ranzz, she said, "I can't believe I was so beautiful!" The younger clone smiled and hugged her back, "I can't believe I will be so beautiful!"

There are issues that simply shocked you to no end. IN fact, some of the issues did not prepare you for shocking revelations like Shvaughn Erin. For many years, many LSH fans knew that there was this Science Police Officer Shvaughn Erin had an infatuation with LSH member's Element Lad, known as Jan Arrah.

In one particular issue where the Dominators infilitrated the EarthGov and started to attack its people across the world -- the Dominators triggered the sudden destruction of Luna which killed millions of people on the planet in LSH #18, prompted its citizens to revolt against the Dominators once and for all. Shvaughn Erin needed the medications to conceal her secret but since the world was in chaos, she could not obtain the pills called ProFem.

What is it? It is sex-change pill. C'mon, don't be so shocked. In 30th Century, anything is possible -- you might not need the surgery to do the trick.

Shvaughn Erin was transformed back to Sean Erin, which pissed off many LSH readers. But that did not stop them both at all.

About a month after Earth announced its victory over the Dominators as they fled back to its homeworld, Elia, the city of Tokyo suddenly collapsed into the ground. Thousands of people died. People wondered why. The scientists discovered that the high unstable substance known as proton jelly, a toxic chemical that were used in the 24th Century -- about 500 years before. Earth often dumped the proton jelly in the space before the United Planets passed a decree that banned the space debris. So in 2300s, someone decided to bury the proton jellys beneath our planet.

Slowly, that toxic substance caused a mineralogical virus which overwhelmed everywhere else in the planet. 4 billions of Earthlings were evacuated in the sky. 94 cities were able to save itself and flow up in the space, others failed and crashed. People could not believe that a month after its victorious over the Dominators, Earth is going to go off no matter what. Some people chose to stay. Some people could not bear to leave Earth. It was not 30th Century's fault but someone else in the 2300s that did this to them. But what can they do about it?

As you can see the picture on this entry, these people left on Earth stood and waited, all in unity regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, for their final moments on the planet. Then it was done deal. Earth exploded into nothingness as 94 domed cities floated by. By then, 2 billion of people has perished when Earth ceased to exist.

However, I loved the LSH vol. 4 series because it attempts to be realistic as much as can be. And it was fun riding it out with Keith Giffen and the Bierbaums. However, in that pivotal issue where Earth ceased to exist, a character named Devlin wrote a subtle message for all.

What he wrote applied to us all as of today, like it or not.

It isn't fair. After all we've gone through. After all we've triumphed over. It just isn't fair.

But then, life isn't fair, is it?

Well, no. In fact, life is fair, really. It sets out some clearly defined rules and challenges humankind to fashion its heaven within those rules. And in those rare moments when we realize heaven is all around us and always has been, we've got a chance. But when we decided we've got a better idea -- that we can cajole, threaten, sneer, resent, whine and hate life into being something different from what it is -- that's when the battle is lost.

That's when life stops being fair.

Tom & Mary Bierbaum were right on this account. Treat this Planet with kindness or it will not do you right. Simply as that.

Cheers,

R-