What To Do With Rebate - Don Harrold

Charismatic and interesting.

My Columbia Heights Garden vs. The Rats

I'm planning a vegetable garden this year for cost-saving and Earth-loving reasons. There's so much out there for urban gardeners now. Like a self-watering container that stores extra water so you don't have to worry about it drying out. And breeds of fruit and vegetable that will do well in containers. There are fruit trees that grow straight up and don't grow wide at all. I find that one really fascinating.

There are so many options to mull over that I am having a hard time making a decision.

One item is on the definite list, though. A sound-making device that scares away rats. DC is reclaimed swampland, after all. But DC rats are so big they might think it's disco music and start dancing. Seriously. Don't mess with DC rats. If you see them doing the hustle in your back yard, join them but don't break up the party.

General anti-rat advice that has proved to be the best is to sprinkle mothballs around. Seriously. Rats hate those things.

Rats really like tulip bulbs, apparently. And they get to them from tunneling underground. So you sprinkle pieces of mothball in the hole you dig for the bulb. Then you put in bulb food. Then you put in the bulb. Then you cover it up with dirt. It worked pretty well for me.

There are also containers that have fine mesh screens with them so no little critter can get to your food supply.

Down With Obama! - A Small Town Pennsylvania Girl Speaks

Barak Obama is not ready to be President of the United States. And the day he gets ready, he is not suitable to be President of the United States.

As a small town Pennsylvania girl growing up next to the Appalachian Trail, I lived, grew up and almost died in small town Pennsylvania. Do not mistake their beliefs as something to do until good jobs appear.

What Barak Obama's comments about "clinging to guns" really means is that he hopes America has changed more than it has. He is hoping that the color of his skin is not going to be a disadvantage in small town Pennsylvania if he can offer economic advantage. He is wrong. Not completely, but still he is wrong.

What Mr. Obama wishes is that these mythical small town Pennsylvanians are ready to abandon their racism, not their guns or religion. The color of a person's skin is going to be a factor in any small town Pennsylvania election. And in any District of Columbia election. Or any election in the United States of America. Race may not be the overwhelming weight it used to be on the scales, but it is still there.

Mr. Obama's comments reveal his attitude towards most of America as Lilliputians needing guidance. For that reason, he should never be President. And he never will be.

Bloggers are correct in saying that entire rituals surround the hunting experience. Besides which, it is fun! You get up early in the morning with your Dad, you pack your lunch, you go into the woods having put on your "kill the human scent" spray. And you wait. You wait for the deer to come out to eat so you can shoot them and bring home enough meat for the winter. Every one of us is here today because almost all of our ancestors did the same thing. They killed their food. It is not a bad thing.

Carpenters Strike in Downtown DC

If anyone goes near 17th and K during business hours these days, they will hear a lot of banging and yelling from people protesting the use of non-union carpenters on a building site there.

These people represent the carpenters union. But they do not belong to the carpenters union.

It seems that the carpenters union hires people as professional plastic drum players, yelling protesters and picket line walkers. They probably get them from DuPont Circle. Whoever they are, they do not belong to the union and they have their days free.

It is funny to think that the real carpenters are too busy working to spend the time yelling and banging in protest, It reminds me of Japan, where you can hire professional mourners for a funeral. Or rent an acceptable family for a business function.

Guide to a Perfect Garden

D.C. Is Known For Spring Blooms

D.C. is known for its lovely gardens - both private and public.  A springtime walk through public parks like DuPont Circle, Lafayette Park and the Capitol feature hundreds of tulips, flowering trees and bushes.  Even homeowners devote hours to their yards and can even get a little competitive about it.  I've known people to have their rosebushes stolen.  How can a regular person keep up in this cutthroat horticultural hobby?

Beautification in DC 

We have Lady Bird Johnson to thank for our flowering city.  She made it her project to beautify urban public spaces with blooming plants.  "Lady Bird Johnson selected her adopted hometown of Washington, D.C. as the pilot city to show the nation how Beautification could enhance the overall quality of life."  The results can be seen all over D.C. public lands and parks.

The floral trend caught on in the private sector.  D.C. personal gardens are worthy of a walking tour through Georgetown and DuPont Circle between 17th and 20th Street NW from Q to T Streets in the summer and spring.  Of course, this being the City Of The Overachiever means any gardening secrets are guarded well.  That is, until I cracked the code.  

Here Comes Columbia Heights!

It was on one of my walks that I noticed several yards in my Columbia Heights neighborhood have amazingly bright, large flowers in their yards. These flowers were huge, colorful and flawless. They never dimmed, rotted or fell over. Through unexpected frosts, hail storms and evil winds, the flowers exhibited the same level of charm and beauty. 

They were also plastic. 

Yes, that's right. People bought plastic flowers and planted them along their walkways and in their gardens. One person has even glued large fake roses to his rose bush. I should have been tipped off when I saw the blue roses.  

That's not the funny part.  It took me staring at the amazing sight several times while walking my dog to figure it out.

Brilliant.  Most people would never notice that they weren't real and the homeowners get organic street cred.  Now if my mother would just let me get away with that...

The Original Torture Memo and Legal Ethics

I am sure that I am not alone in feeling that John Yoo should be shot. But what about disbarred from the practice of law?

He facilitated criminal behavior by writing a ludicrous legal argument that encouraged breaking the laws against the use of torture. That is an ethics violation. He facilitated a crime. He knew it was a crime. There was no case law, statute, or regulation that supported his legal analysis.

You can't just come up with a legal theory, waive your hands in the air, and declare a formerly illegal act to be legal now that you came up with some reason to justify it. And as an attorney, John Yoo knew that.

John Yoo needs to be disbarred from the practice of law, at the least. Imprisonment would be better.