One People, One Law

There were two shootings in the Baltimore Metro yesterday. One involved two lovers in a downtown hotel and was thankfully non-fatal. The other took place in Anne Arundel County and ended in the death of a dog.

The details of the two shootings are very different and while neither ended in the death of a human I guess we should be happy. Unfortunately the two shootings were resonded to by local police in very different ways. So different that it seems there must be two different sets of laws governing the people of the state. One law for you and I, and another for those of us who carry a badge.

In an Anne Arundel dog park Monday evening, a Siberian Husky, Bear Bear, leaping and playing with other dogs as dogs in a dog park will, came into contact with a German Sheppard. The Husky engaged in rough play with the Sheppard. The Sheppard's owner yelled for Bear Bear's owner to restrain the dog. The Sheppard was leashed and presumably tethered to his owner. Almost immeadiately, according to eye witnesses, the German Sheppard's owner drew his hand gun and shot and killed the Husky. Anne Arundel police who responded to the shooting said there would be no investigation into the shooting, as it appeared to have been justified. The shooter was a federal police officer.

At the Hilton near the Baltimore Convention Center, two guests of the hotel, who had checked in together several days before got into a fight which ended when the woman shot her apparent lover. The man was taken to a local hospital and is recovering. The woman had minor bruises and scraps. The interesting thing about the shooting was how Baltimore City Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefield III responded. "It keeps coming back to one common thing … this insipid fascination with handguns in Baltimore and the willingness to use them to sort out conflict," he said.

"The willingness to use [handguns] to sort out conflict." It sounds like a statement a beleaguered police officer would make. A statement that is backed by years of seeing simple arguments escalate into violent situations that end with gun violence. A statement that any urban resident can agree with and see the intelligence of it. It is a statement that has merit and common sense and speaks volumes to how police have to come in and clean up after what could be a minor incident became a homicide. Unfortunately the statement is directed only at the non police officers of the city.

Following a summer that has included a fatal shooting by an off duty police officer leaving a Mt Vernon nightclub, a shooting that Mr Bealefield publicly excused as possibly justified, and a decision by a jury to convict a transit police officer in Oakland of the relatively minor charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed and subdued suspect on New Years Eve, one might think that something in our countries police forces has gone wrong. In both instances there was a definate "willingness to use [handguns] to sort out conflicts."

While Anne Arundel County Police have done an about face after pressure from citizens and politicians, their intial reaction to the shooting speaks volumes to how police view their position in society. Years of hero worship and media glorification of police officers as super men who "fight the bad guys", has lead to a climate of justification of violence used by officers under any circumstances.

America is a country that was founded on the idea of one people who all live under one law. There is still a strong feeling that all people rich or poor are subject to the same laws. Why then are police suddenly now exempt, given a pass to act like Wild West vigilantes meting out their own justice and judgments whenever they see fit.

Whole Wheat Toast

Taqueria Nacional 400 N Capitol St NW
Breakfast

Snug in the corner between Johnny's on the Half Shell and the main lobby of the Hall of States Building sits Taqueria Nacional, the taco stand of the nation. The little shop serves up some tasty tacos, but I was there for breakfast. The most important meal of the day.

The desayuno menu is modest buy offers some choices. I had the huevos rancheros, scrambled eggs, refried beans, ranchero sauce, and couple of tortillas. The eggs are scrambled en mass, but they have a good flavor, although I suspect they are liquid eggs. The tortillas are also only fair. The highlights of the meal are the refried beans and the ranchero sauce. The beans are the perfect mix of mashed pulp with just a few whole beans for texture. The ranchero sauce though is delightful.

The whole meal is pretty cheap, 5.75 or so gets you a hearty meal. The Taqueria also offers Mayorega coffee which is very rich and hearty brew. I like Taqueria but I take it for granted because it is so close to my work. Overall I give the breakfast 4 peppers.

Free Refills

I am not off to a good start, having already skipped a day and not really bothering to pay attention to what I ate today. Oh well, I think I can fake it....

U.S. Capitol Visitor Center Restaurant 100 Constitution Ave NE
Breakfast

The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is truly beautiful. It sits beneath the park behind the Capitol. The sky lights offer spectacular views of the expanded Capitol dome, and the to scale replica of Freedom, the statue atop the Capitol is awe inspiring. The restaurant sucks.

That is not really fair, because the food is not the worst you could eat, but it is not particularly good, and it is particularly expensive. The other cafes in the Capitol itself, the ones you probably are not allowed to go to, and even the ones in the House and Senate office buildings offer similar fare, but at two thirds the cost.

My breakfast consisted of a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and coffee. I was late to work so I didn't have time to be picky, just grab and go. The biscuit was crumbly but fairly moist at the same time. There was only one piece of bacon on the sandwich, though it was large. The bacon was folded in half and was soft so it pulled off the biscuit in a single bite. I hate that. The egg was real, I think, but only a single slice of cheese. The coffee was good, Dunkin Donuts brand. Hot and tasty, and included free refills.

The whole meal was okay, but the sandwich, an 8oz OJ, and a 12 oz cup of coffee cost me $9.59, and that is crap. I give CVCR two bills for quality food, but take three bills away for trying to recoup the billions the project overran its budget by overcharging for the food.

A New Direction

I like doing this blogging thing, but sometimes I don't feel that my stories or picture essays are really all that useful to people. It feels like a lot of navel gazing. The feeling that this is kind of worthless keeps me from posting.

The combination of these two things, lack of relevance and lack of posting has gotten me to rethink what this blog should be all about. As a result, I am going to focus this blog on something that is useful and something I do everyday, lunch.

From here on, hopefully at least four times a week I will post a review of the place I got lunch. See I work in DC and for now, I eat my lunch out just about everyday. Since I work "on location" I tend to eat in lots of different places. My goal is to review at least what I eat in those places here.

So without further ado, here is my first review.

Sunrise Cafe 1102 17th Street Northwest,
Breakfast

I guess I am off to a bad start here because this is a breakfast review, not a lunch, and I made a poor choice of food here, even though I knew I was going to review it. I had two breakfast sandwiches. One bacon egg and cheese, and one sausage egg and cheese, both on wheat toast, you know cause its healthy.

First the Sunrise Cafe itself is one of about a half dozen that dot NW business district. I assume they are somehow all affiliated by the Korean Deli and Carryout Concern. This one is much smaller then most, and looks dingier then most. There are window seats for about 5, but if the place got crowded you might get a laptop bag or elbow to the head if you sat there long. There is cafe seating, but its pretty goddamn cold out so that was not set up.

Interestingly I learned that outside the place next to the trash can there is an exhaust vent for the oven hoods. This is a good place to stand and wait for your food, smoke and be warm. I witnessed a passer by putting his knowledge of the warm spot to use, and thereby blocking my view. It is really weird to have someone stand so close to you but so far away divided by the glass while you eat.

My sandwiches were tastey and hot. Plenty of cheese, and real fried egg. The sausage patty was a bit greasy, but not overly so, and it filled the entire slice of bread, so there was meat in every bite. The bacon was plentiful too, and crispy, though I suspect cooked en mass at some point probably today, since it was Monday, but no way of telling really. Honestly its bacon so it hardly goes bad anyway. Crisp and lots thats what you want on your bacon sandwich.

There were two downsides. One the wheat bread was not toasted. I can deal with because sometimes the toasting really dries out the meal, especially when no butter is added to the bread. I'm totally a health nut, can't you tell.

The second problem was a bit more unforgivable. I was grossly overcharged for my food. Not uncommon in my DC eating experience. Something about tourists and govt. workers and tourist govt. workers just begs suckering to these delis. I didn't realize the error until after I had left when a co worker asked me how much my meal was and if I got the 2 sandwich deal of 2.50 per. I did not. I got the 5 dollar per deal, booooooo.

As a whole I think the food was pretty good. I did not ask for wheat toast specifically, although I don't think you really should. I did not like the getting ripped off bit, I advise you to mentally add your total up at the register and double check the cashier if you go.

Umm I give it 3 eggs for quality but minus one and half for jacking me. Don't fuck with my money, yo.