City Paper City Desk Blog posts a few reader submitted photos of D.C. Summer Youth Employment Program interns taking what the submitter says is a weed smoke break.

Source: Washington City Paper City Desk

Source: Washington City Paper City Desk

The submitter explains:

‘Took some photos yesterday of 6 kids from the Mayor’s Conservation Corps rolling [a] joint and smoking pot….I did call the police but they didn’t show up before the kids finished up. You can see a lighter and smoke in the photos. You can tell what he’s smoking from how he’s holding it. I could smell it…(don’t ask me how I know what it smells like).’

Real?  Who knows.  The reader could smell it, but we can’t so that is out as proof.  As for how they are holding it, they’re kids.  I wouldn’t expect them to have a perfected cigarette hold such as I do.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this was real.  Afterall, there is a track record of stranger things happening with these program kids.

WaPo this morning confirms that John Catoe and Metro are determined to kill again by leaving the 1000 series of Metro cars in service.  On top of all that, the brilliant plan to move these cars to the middle of the trains will happen when ever they care to get it done.

Metro spokesman  Steven Taubenkibel says:

“It’s not like you can take the Red Line to Gallery Place and hang a right…It’s not like moving a couple of cars out of an auto dealership.”

Ohhhh poor baby.  Is your job hard?  We all feel for you.  Really we do.

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In other news, let’s party like it’s 1989!!!!! ( I know that was lame, but I couldn’t resist.)

WTOP and others are touting the District is on pace to have the fewest homicides since ‘89:

With 66 homicides reported by D.C. police so far this year, Washington is on pace to have the lowest yearly total for homicides since 1989.

The number is 20 percent below last year’s figure and if the homicide rate continued through December, the total for 2009 would be 134. That would be 52 fewer slayings than last year and 47 fewer than in 2007. It would be 35 fewer than in 2006.

But don’t slap on that party hat and pop open the bubbly just yet.  Criminologists say homicides often rise during the summer months.  Apparently summertime is a murderer’s busy season.  Who knew?

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Speaking of homicide, the mother of a cop killer later killed in his jail cell by cops Ronnie L. White is suing Prince George’s county for $150 million:

The family of accused killer Ronnie White, whose death in a Prince George’s County jail was ruled a homicide but produced no charges, is planning to sue Prince George’s County officials and correctional officers over his death.

White’s mother continues to blame the jailhouse guards. A year after her son’s death, she is filing suit for more than $150 million against Prince George’s County officials and those correctional officers who she believes killed her son.

I have personally never forgotten this story.  Say whatever the hell you want about what kind of person Ronnie White was, the fact remains nobody deserves to kill someone and get off scot-free. It’s been an effing year and even though everyone in PG knows these guards killed White no one in the prosecutors office has done a damn thing about it.

It’s a vicious circle really.  I don’t want the White family to get $150 million of the tax payer’s dollars, but at the same time I want someone who is refusing to enforce the law to pay a price.

This is the kind of bullshit we have to endure when the people are too damn busy with their own life to actually pay attention to what is going on in their government.

Just when you thought it was safe…

More troubles for Metro hit the afternoon news.

First up was the report of 2 cracked rails on the Green and Red line.

Following not too closely behind came a report that robberies have jumped on the system in the last 2 months.

What can you say?  When it rains it pours.

The first of many…

We also got notice today that the first of what will certainly be many lawsuits against WMATA has been filed.

Okay…so maybe this isn’t a rainstorm…this is a full-on monsoon.

Calm down, my homosexual friend

And finally Washington Blade writer Kevin Naff went a little bonkers in a post today regarding the “gay exorcism” performed by a Connecticut church.

Why haven’t the adults in the video been arrested?They are clearly assaulting the youth; he can be seen suffering apparent convulsions and even vomits during the beating.

If this isn’t child abuse, then what the hell is?

Connecticut authorities should investigate and arrest those responsible for beating this innocent teenager.

Contrary to the claims of the Manifested Glory “Church,” this reprehensible act has nothing to do with religious freedom. None of us is free to assault a child, no matter the circumstances.

Hold on there, butch!  I’ve seen the same video you have and describing it as a “beating” is like describing anal sex to be only as painful as a firm handshake.  In other words, it is extremely misleading if not an out right lie.

The “pastor” was only holding the boys forehead and screaming various commands to an imaginary spirit.  He wasn’t punching, kicking, biting, or otherwise physically handling the boy.  Those things would warrant the use of the word “beating” in a reasonable sense.

Look, I understand your anger.  These people are treating your lifestyle as if it is a disease brought on by the Devil.  That would piss me off too.  But taking their actions and blowing them way out of proportion is not productive and makes you look like a bitter hag.

That’s all for today, Washington.  See you in the A.M.

Obama Elementary?

PG County wants to name an elementary school after President Obama according to the WaPo.

It’s been 156 days since Obama was inaugurated.  Perhaps this is a tad bit hasty?

The school board votes on this Thursday night.  The Informer has learned officials from James Buchanon High School,  Warren G. Harding Middle School, and Andrew Johnson Elementary will be on hand to advise. (Here’s a link for those who don’t know their presidential history.)

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

U.S. Senators from Maryland and Virginia announced today that WMATA will receive $34.3 Million for the purchase of 52 new Metro cars.

I’ll bet you $34.2 Million ( I need a little walking around money) that if there was no accident on the Metro Monday there is no way in hell this money comes through today.  This is why many people (including myself) hate politicians so damn much.  Where was that money before 9 people died?

What the Hell?

WTOP reports that the family of Metro passenger Ana Fernandez has been receiving hate-filled phone calls about whether Fernandez was an illegal immigrant.

I have trouble understanding this whole story.  To be blunt, I don’t believe it.

Am I supposed to believe that some racist, heartless, skinhead is going through the papers to find out the names of the victims involved in the Metro crash and then, if they sound foreign, is looking up their phone numbers and calling their families to terrorize them?

Look, I know there are all brands of crazy out in the world, but this just takes the brass ring.

I’d like to hear a recording of these calls or at the very least see the phone number(s) of the caller(s) and ask whoever owns that number some questions to get to the bottom of this.  If I am wrong about this, I will freely admit it here.  But, my gut tells me this stinks worse than a week old fish taco.

If someone close to the situation wants to supply me with the information just contact me: informer@dcinformer.com.

Note: You Can’t Polish a Turd

And finally, Jackie Jeter–president of the union that represents Metro workers–is demanding that WMATA place the old 1000 series of cars in the middle of trains rather than the front or the back.

Hey Jackie, have you ever heard the saying you can’t polish a turd?  Your solution takes the old, dangerous cars and places them in the middle of a train with the hopes the impact is at the ends.  The funny thing about accidents is that they rarely strike where you want them to.  In fact, they almost always hit you square in the nads on the day you forgot to wear a cup.

So here’s a different suggestion: GET THOSE PILES OF MONKEY TURDS OFF THE RAILS COMPLETELY BEFORE MORE PEOPLE ARE KILLED OR INJURED!

That’s all for today, Washington.   See you in the A.M.