TGR: The Blizzard of 2010: 1 Down, 1 to Go!
This house in the 1100 block of N. Carrollton Ave. caught on fire Sat. night (2.6.10) because snow was not plowed and fire trucks could not get through; consequently, 3 other houses got burned and a water main was ruptured.
Across the street on Sunday, a lady with a medical issue had to be carried to an evac vehicle at the end of the block. Why?
Welcome to Baltimore's Katrina: "Nobody hears our cry!"
A state of emergency: National Guard in hummers
By Doni Glover, www.bmorenews.com
"The same ol' story in New Orleans" - Jay Z
(BALTIMORE - February 9, 2010 - REVISED - 9 pm) - According to one Baltimore City Police officer stationed in Sandtown, downtown is plowed, Baltimore County is plowed, Carroll County is plowed (he lives there), but he didn't understand why communities - like in West Baltimore - were still left undone.
Fender-benders are not uncommon. The perpetual struggle between pedestrian rights and drivers' fears of getting stuck is ubiquitous. The question remains: Does anybody care about less affluent communities in one of the richest state's in the nation?
Yeah, yeah! We heard the governor announce there would be no additional funds for snow plowing.
Maybe we have to appeal to Pres. Barack Obama to send "state of emergency" dollars directly to municipalities ... like Baltimore. Or, maybe directly outsource dollars to snow removal companies. Whatever the case, this is some bull feces.
In a city where citizens get taxed to death for everything from parking tickets to cell phones, where is the love? Like the songwriter sings, "Ain't no love in the heart of the city!"
Oh, and get this: Another foot of snow on schedule for tomorrow.
Here’s the official line from City Hall: "As of 9:30am this morning more than 72% of secondary roads have been plowed once. 36% have been plowed two or more times."
C'mon, man!
"Ironing boards, trash cans, stolen city cones, and chairs put out to save parking spaces. My question is anybody recording the acts of violence directly related to the Blizzard of 2010?", asks WEAA radio talk show host David Brown.
He added, "It's ridiculous!"
The situation in Baltimore is a 9-1-1, despite what officials want us to believe. Crime is up! Anybody from Baltimore knows that you can do what you want to do when the police are at bay: Sell dope; loot; kill; steal; destroy!
Actually, tonight I saved 3 young black youths from getting the crap beat out of them from a small crowd of angry youth - pushed on by teenage drug dealers who insisted that violence is something normal and deserved to otherwise good kids who didn't mean any harm to nobody.
I could not believe I was watching youngsters raised with my son who felt like they had an obligation to kill another without regard for law, mercy, grace, nor justice - just because they could.
This is a 9-1-1!
I believe that acts of violence in Baltimore have escalated during this storm because of a cornucopia of inter-related issues: violence; the recession; walking on snow while ducking cars who insist you have no right; taking parking spaces; and, oh - I cannot forget - no snow plows.
This morning, I attempted to ride the subway. Guess what, a multitude of delays. Said one man, "No snow trains." What's a snow train? It helps keep the lines warm during ... a blizzard.
So, who is to blame?
Well, one thing I learned is that Baltimore and DC are not far apart in terms of transportation. They both got fed dollars around the same time: about the 60's; while DC used theirs for subways, Baltimore put their dollars on highways.
Baltimore finally got a subway system around ... '83 ... that went from downtown to the northwest (kinda like the highway to nowhere). And that was it. Race and class disaffected otherwise intelligent thinking and urban planning - going back to what one mentor calls "the Negro problem".
Makes me think who really runs this place. Nonetheless, that racial serpitude that insists that blacks deserve this and others deserve that is so warped and spun, I think; such are the grounds, I would think, for a class action law suit for a multitude of inter-disciplinary changes in Baltimore - it's transportation, education, housing, et al.
NY and Phillie, however, have transpo systems that are about a century old - along with Boston. Snow means literally nothing to them. It's about ... get this, people.
Yet, Atlanta began a transpo system not that long ago, before Baltimore. Instead of the one-legged approach to serve a certain area, theirs - no doubt due to progressive leadership - was built with a modicum of intelligence: an east-west rail; a north-south rail. Bottom line: logic. Democracy. Something for everybody, not just something for those who could do exactly what they wanted to do - like in Baltimore, a still otherwise racist, retarded, and tainted town; the place I call home.
Forgive me, Lord!
So, all of this begs the question ... to me: Who really loves Baltimore? Who really cares about its people? The politician, the social activist, the community organizer, the Civil Rights leader, the white guy, the black guy, the woman? Who understands the intricacies and ideosyncrasies and devaluations that have occured over the years? Who can truly put their finger on the pulse of the people with any semblance of a basic understanding of the landscape? Who can deliver? Who can put their own inner-circle at a distance so as to deserve with honor and distinction the true needs of the people? A Poly grad? A Dunbar grad? A City grad? A Western grad? Or, a person with a GED?
We've got more nuances, as a major city, than Willie Lynch. And I’m sick of it!
I don't know about you, but for me ... something has to really change in order for me to believe ... in my hometown.
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Excellnet piece!
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Please be civil.