Tasty Morning Bytes – Gray Cronyism, Earthquake Myths and Toxic River Soup
Good morning, DCentric readers! And now, for some links:
Gray cronyism probe sparks call for reform “D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh plans to introduce legislation next month that reduces the number of political appointees afforded the mayor, calls for proper screening of appointees and sheds light on their qualifications.” (Washington Times)
On Interracial Dating – The White Panel “A white high school friend dated a black guy, and her brother immediately asked her if she was going to turn into ‘one of those girls who wears her hair in a slicked-back tight ponytail’ — a class signifier, where I’m from, of being “trashy.” White women who dated black men (and to a slightly lesser extent, white women who dated Latino men) were definitely marked as low-class; the same wasn’t true of white women with Asian men.” (Racialicious)
Earthquake Safety Myths: DC Area Residents Not Sure What To Do “Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of Washington as soon as the first tremors of Tuesday’s earthquake were felt. As it turns out, the commonly held belief that you get out of a building as soon as an earthquake strikes is not just wrong but potentially dangerous.” (WUSA Washington, DC)
Nimbyism: Standing up for what’s right or “nihilistic selfishness”? “Walmart strategically chose locations in DC which limit the ability of community input into the program. Only 1 of the 4 sites allows for extraordinary input into the process. One site doesn’t even require any approval at all, while two sites have a review process, but a process that is built upon a bias for approval.” (Rebuilding Place In Urban Space)
Fishing on the Anacostia — Recipe for Toxic Soup? “Irv Sheffey, field organizer for the Sierra Club, agrees, and is adamant about the dangers of eating fish from the Anacostia. ‘Sadly people are eating the fish and they shouldn’t.” Sheffey said. “I saw someone catch a big catfish and I knew he was going to take it home. The Anacostia is a toxic soup of PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls), PAH (polyaromatic hydrocarbon) and other assorted chemical, which enter the food stream. Please don’t eat the fish.’” (Washington Informer)