dmbenn's blog

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May 25, 2009

note: good food

Before I met with Pete, I was wondering around, trying to find some food. It was the eve of Memorial Day, and literally everything was closed.

Then I came across this Chinese restaurant, which is above the non-profit Public Citizen (which is actually quite similar to the nonprofit I am presently working worth - both might consider themselves "citizen's lobbies"). The name of the restaurant is Hunan Dynasty, right by the capitol building. http://www.hunandynastydc.com/ I was the only one there. It's beautiful inside, lots of art and flowers. The concierge was very nice; she said they were still open for another hour, and that I could have a free soup. Sounds good! I got a mixed vegetable dish, and she threw on some tofu for free, too. It's also a fun place because all the political stars go there. When you walk in, you can see the owners with various figures, including Kerry, Gore, and Hillary Clinton.

That reminds me, I also had a really good green curry vegetable dish at a Singaporian restuarant http://www.singaporebistro.com/. The people were also very friendly there. A woman at the sushi bar said the roll she was having - I think it was some kind of eel and avocado roll - was the best she had ever had (then again, I think I overheard that she's from the South). I got great meals for 8 or 9 dollars at both places.

Posted by dmbenn at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)

more on Peter Bis (NPR story)

Turns out that Mr. Bis really is quite the sensation. He was interviewed for a short piece on NPR. Check out this heartwarming 3-minute sound recording: http://wamu.org/audio/nw/06/12/n2061208-12727.ram

Posted by dmbenn at 02:44 AM | Comments (0)

i just met a legend on capitol hill

It's late in the evening and I am trying to find this place so I can drop off my key and complete my checkout from the Capitol Hill area. I walk by an ExxonMobil gas station and a guy sitting on a curb starts talking to me. "Hi there, how are you doing," he says. "Happy Memorial Day!" The streets are totally empty. It's like everyone just vanished after dark, as though the entire city was to take part in some Memorial Day ritual that I knew nothing of. We chat a bit. "Happy Memorial Day," he says again. "Enjoy your evening." "Thank you, you too."

I walk down a block and realize that I am walking in the wrong direction. So I go back and pass by the gas station again, and this friendly man, must be in his 60s, likely homeless, is still sitting there. "Are you finding everything all right?" he asks me. "Where you tryin' to go?" I tell him 307; he says 307 should just be a block up, right next to Cafe Berlin, across from the White Tiger...oh, and there should also be a restaurant named Two Quail. "Okay, great, thanks a lot," I respond. Once I locate the place I have some difficulty shoving the envelope through the door slot; supposedly it doesn't drop down, you just have to wedge it between that door and another door behind it. A sign reads: LEAVE CHECK-OUT DOCUMENTS WITHIN DOOR. It must be at least 85 degrees, very humid, pouring sweat by now.

I walk back, this time on the other side of the street. Not intentionally, not to avoid the guy at the gas station or anything. It just so happens that the place is on the opposite side of the street. Actually, after that door slot ordeal, I almost forget about the guy in front of the gas station. I'm about to cross a red in the other direction - no cars, of course, it's dead out here - but the light leading to the gas station - right, the one on the corner - is blinking green. So I decide to take it. There is the guy again. He seems to gesture at me, so I shout out at him. "How are you doing?"

"Did you find the place OK?" he responds. It doesn't take long before we start talking politics.

He speaks of his days as a spy, showing me two passports with different ID's. His name on one of them shows up as "Peter Bis." His dialect is like a cross between JFK and a drunken Brit. As for content, he spits out perfectly worded sentences, no umms likes or uhhhhs, 3/4 of the words ID's - people, places, organizations (mostly the American Mafia), events, dates - the other 1/4 a mix of economics jargon, racial slurs and expletives. Generally, he speaks a tasteful mix of personal experience and juicy FYI's. "Just look at that name - Bis," he tells me. "You know what that means?" "No, what does it mean?" "British Intelligence Society. Who would've thought?!" he chuckles. And then one of his favorite lines: "Most people don't know about that."

We're talking right next to a big heap of tarps on the curb, right in front of the gas station. Pete seems comfortable with it. He rests his elbow on the stuff, which sprawls practically the entire length of the Exxon station. Little do I know, all his belongings lie under those tarps.

"You see that place over there?" he tells me. "That's the Heritage Foundation. They keep the interns there. A bunch of neo-Nazi fascist bastards." Among other things, he goes on to tell me about the license plate number of a woman who works with them. Her license plate allegedly begins with "BJ." (Long story short, she's the Heritage Foundation prostitute.)

Now that Bis got out of his spy work - almost getting killed several times in the process - he is out to expose the American Mafia. Supposedly, he has leaked a number of confidential documents, some of which are on his blog, some of which are underneath his tarps. His blog runs about 300 pages, and was written up for him "by my typist." Take a look for yourself; it's actually a really entertaining blog: http://peterbis.blogspot.com/

I lost the sheet that he gave me and was really disappointed, but after a simple google search his blog popped up. It seems that he is quite the influential figure on Capitol Hill, holding public policy workshops from 8 am to 10 pm; the rest of the time he camps out nearby and keeps an eye on his stuff. The city has repeatedly tried to evict him from his spot on the curb - and repeatedly without success. In fact, the city posted two metal signs (one in English, one in Spanish) above his tarps; black marker writing fills in the blanks, declaring May 22nd the day when THIS LOCATION WILL BE SANITIZED. But the date already passed. "Some people like me, some people hate me," he said. It seems that his proponents hold the upper hand. "I can pull strings when I need to. Been doin' it all my life."

On December 14, 2005, his typist wrote:

Bis is getting busted for stuff on the sidewalk at the Exxon Station, Mass Ave and 2nd NE; city signs went up on May 12th threatening to take it all on May 22nd. Neatly covered, the stuff is just down the sidewalk from the Heritage Center dorm, and in fact a lot of it [if not the bulk of Pete's stuff] comes from young people moving through their various programs. Obviously this town revolves around people knowing people; all efforts to get this worked out are appreciated, and the immediate problem could be resolved with storage capacity about the size of a parking spot in the immediate proximity. Can Capitol Police find something nearby?

Posted by dmbenn at 01:30 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2009

busboys and poets

Yesterday after work, I ended up in the "Greater U Street Historic Ditrict" http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc63.htm or the "U Street Corridor." In the first half of the 20th century, as the city grew inceasingly segregated, it became the center of black culture in D.C. Until the 1920s, when Harlem rose to prominence, it was home to the largest urban African-American community. http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/information2550/information.htm?area=2529 It not only became a center for black entertainment, but also for black businesses. Known as "Washington's Black Broadway," it still remains a vibrant hotbed for black culture and jazz. It's in northwest D.C., easily accessible via the green line. Someone I had just met in the building told me about the place and walked me over. It took less than thirty minutes to walk from my work, in Dupont Circle, over to a restaurant/coffee shop/bar/progressive bookstore called "Busboys and Poets." http://www.busboysandpoets.com/ The place is amazing, really young and hip, and the sweet potato fries and summer ale were amazing. They have open mics several times a week. The one that was going on that night - and that I came too late for - was an HIV/AIDS fundraiser. (Note: 3 percent of DC's population is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, three times that of a "generalized and severe epidemic." In fact, the rate here is the highest in the nation. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/14/AR2009031402176.html)

Posted by dmbenn at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

cheney, go to hell

Sorry, Dick, your day is over. The era of Reagonomics and tyranny are all but dead. But please, mumble on. Indulge us.

Posted by dmbenn at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2009

medicine from hell

Sarah is a security guard at the Verizon building where I am working. Always friendly, she operates at the front desk and holds down the fort.

She was rubbing her eyes as I was walking out of the building today; I asked her if she was feeling tired. Not quite, she said. The doctor gave her a bad prescription. The drops were supposed to soothe her eye, but she felt like a piece of gravel was lodged behind it. Her sinuses were inflamed - maybe an allergic reaction, she thought. She spoke of a time where she walked into a doctor's office where everything was untidy and unclean. She told the doctor that she had pain in her stomach, and he asked her if she needed a blood test. She said she didn't know, he was the doctor. When he offered her 5 possible medicines, saying to take them one at a time until the pain went away, she promptly dismissed herself. Although Sarah herself immigrated from Ethiopia, she has negative feelings toward foreign doctors, lamenting that they are incompetent. More and more, she notes, medical standards have been compromised. Sarah was further upset by the fact that an Ethiopian friend, who, like her, had little support or voice in the U.S., was not only misdiagnosed but decisively mistreated. The doctors deemed throat surgery the proper remedy to profuse bleeding from the mouth. After his immediate death, the coroner discovered that he had leukemia. And, sure enough, the antibiotics that he had been prescribed the day before triggered the bleeding.

Posted by dmbenn at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

Rewarding Failure: Contractor Bonuses for Faulty Work in Iraq

Tomorrow, I will be attending a Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing called “Rewarding Failure: Contractor Bonuses for Faulty Work in Iraq” on behalf of the organization. It looks like it should be interesting. Below is the info:

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

628 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Please RSVP to Jesse Comart via email or at 202-224-6182

This hearing will examine bonuses paid by the Department of Defense (DoD) to contractor KBR in 2007 and 2008, despite the company’s grossly incompetent electrical work in Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. soldiers and significant property damage caused by electrical fires. Witnesses at the hearing will describe how the company failed to hire qualified personnel, performed electrical work in a manner that continues to place our troops in grave danger, and failed to make repairs once hazards were identified. The hearing, which will be the nineteenth hearing held by the DPC on contracting abuses and corruption in Iraq, will also focus on the need to reform DoD’s fee award system.

Witnesses

James Childs: Mr. Childs, a Master Electrician hired by the Army to review KBR’s electrical work in Iraq in 2008, will testify that the electrical work performed by KBR in Iraq was the worst he has seen in his 30-year career. Mr. Childs will testify that the great majority of the buildings KBR worked on were improperly wired. He will also testify about the difficulty he had working with KBR to correct the problems.

Eric Peters: Mr. Peters, a Master Electrician, worked for KBR at Al Asad Airbase, Camp Striker, and Camp Warrior in Iraq. He worked in Iraq from February 2009 through April 2009, when he resigned in response to KBR’s disregard for safety and its inability to perform quality electrical work. Mr. Peters will testify about KBR’s poor performance, which resulted in part from the substandard, inferior materials used by the company, and the lack of qualified individuals serving in management.

Charles Smith: Mr. Smith, who managed the LOGCAP III contract for the Pentagon, was forced out of his job in 2004 when he refused to approve paying KBR more than $1 billion in questionable charges. Had Mr. Smith not been ousted from his job, he would have continued to oversee KBR’s performance under LOGCAP III. He will testify about the need to reform DoD’s award fee process. In November 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld awarded Mr. Smith the Department of Defense’s Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service.

Posted by dmbenn at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2009

FAIR ELECTIONS NOW!

The primary goal of the organization, at the moment, is to pass the Fair Elections Now Act (HR 1826). It was introduced in the House last March 31. The Senate bill will be introduced soon. Ideally, the vote will take place in the fall.

What the bill calls for is revolutionary, but by no means novel: the public financing of congressional elections. Several states have already adopted public funding systems with success. The main idea is to put an end to corporate funding of campaigns. While direct pay-offs are not really seen nowadays - so far as us laypeople are aware - campaign donations give corporations and other large donors another way to buy influence in Washington (or any election, for that matter). Politicians spend most of their time fundraising, because they become dependent on these donations in order to stay in office. As such, there is not much time (or concern) for voters.

Not only is the public financing system called for, but it is easy to implement. Politicians that choose to take part in the fair election system - others may maintain the status quo if they wish - accept donations of less than $100. After they have raised enough money, each dollar raised is matched 4 to 1 by public funds up to a certain limit. It is predicted that the total public funding for these elections - about $1.8 billion - would equal only 1/25 of one percent of the federal budget (about .04%). In addition, candidates would receive vouchers to "buy" media time - only now it would be free. (Private media use public airwaves, after all.) So it's a compromise - they use those waves to rake in endless profits, and in return they let politicians use them once in a while for the sake of a fair election. Makes sense to me, and, according to one survey, to 80 percent of Republicans and 65 percents of Democrats. [Note: maybe it's the other way around. But sure, why not?]

The organization has been pushing particularly hard for this measure. They are lobbying Congress hard, going after the less likely - but nonetheless plausible - supporters of this legislation. That is, they are going after the "Blue Dogs" (fiscal conservatives) and "New Democrats" (Obama and the Clintons, as self-styled moderates and free-trade gurus, fall under this category). I got the chance today to visit the congressional offices on Capitol Hill and to "lobby" the freshmen representatives' secretaries (well...to deliver letters thanking them for their sponsorship of the bill at least). By the last one, I had the routine down - "hello, here's a thank you note!" - and was ready for the big leagues. Almost, anyway. After I knocked on one of the doors and slowly opened it, the New York intern said to me: "Have you ever been into one of these offices before." "No, I'm a newbie." "Well, just barge in," he said. "Be authoritative!" "Will do!" I responded.

Posted by dmbenn at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2009

week 1 of work

Week 1 was technically my first 9 to 5, five-day work week, and it was very rewarding. The office takes up the entire 9th floor of the Verizon building, but in very few ways does it resemble Verizon's cubicles.

This is a non-profit. It is a non-profit whose members are adamantly dedicated to rooting out corruption in the US government at the national, state, and local levels. It is about getting "big money" and the "undue influence of special interests" - as they might say it - out of Washington. It is about giving the democracy back to the people - or, rather, gaining it in the first place.

I am not a cynic. This is a reformist organization. It works within the government. I am not putting in 30-40 hours of my time and effort in there for nothing. I have taken the leap of faith and said to myself, "I believe that reform is possible." By reform I mean the ability to work within the government toward progressive change - and not to do so in vein, throwing all your cards on the table and hoping for the pendulum to swing in your favor, only for it to swing back just as much - or more - in the opposite direction. That is not what I am here to do. And I believe that the pendulum of non-progress can be avoided. My belief is not that, just because Obama has been elected, there had been a "Silent Revolution" and everything will come together. That would be too naive and would rest too much faith on the two-party system, not to mention the undemocratic institutios that drive it (e.g., corporations, banks, the CIA and DoD). That would be the kind of thinking that leads to the of pendulum effect.

My belief, though, is that the tools for self government are in place. They are utilized to some extent, and there is some degree of self government. But, of course, it is by representation - necessarily, perhaps - and yet those doing the "representing" have not been held accountable. Just because you elect a representative does not mean you can simply sit back and let them work. Based on my past experiences, and after having read about this organization and seen it in action, close-up, this past week, my faith that change can occur has been invigorated. It is just a matter of the people taking those tools of self government into their own hands. Once that is done, anything can be accomplished.

In my current view, to sum it up, it's like this: the U.S. is messed up in some ways. There are huge inequalities within the country, the environment should be better protected, various forms of discrimination still exist, upward mobility is mostly a myth, and the country not only pokes its nose into other countries' business, but imposes its values - often with devastating force. One could blame this on capitalism, which leads to - and is fed by - the domination of wealthy interests and the creation of monopolies and institutions not created in the public's interest, but rather in the interest of creating more wealth and power, where CEOs, presidents and chairs live out their days and nights clawing with self-interest to secure that wealth and power until Kingdom Come. This is not a sustainable system. But it is not necessarily the abolition of capitalism that is called for (although if it is to subsist some major changes are called for). What needs to be abolished is the fact that votes are bought in our current system--one dollar one vote, not one person one vote. The numbers are skewed for a variety of reasons, the main one being the egregious influence of money in politics (which, of course, is not inseparable from this whole "capitalism" thing, and which is actually an intimate part of it, indeed an outgrowth of it).

If any reforms are to be pursued, these must be the ones: to get big money out of politics and put the tools of self government into the hands of the people, where they belong. If the people push hard enough for participation in the system and for accountability, why should this out-dated mode of capitalism and "democracy" subsist? If we were to achieve a better democracy, then other problems - ones that affect the masses and go rather unnoticed by those controlling the system - could finally be dealt with. Thinking that they would otherwise be dealt with in a serious way is simply naive. But the people, in not organizing against a tyrannical system, have also been too naive, too timid. That must change. Of course, there is no golden approach for the people taking the power back into their hands. An outright revolution would likely fail. But so long as people realize the root of the problem, and move toward a solution, ultimately coming together in the process, then they are getting somewhere.

In the end, it is perhaps not a question of whether democracy and a sustainable capitalism are possible but rather whether the people have the will - or even the ability - to mobilize effectively on a large enough scale. This, however, cannot be foreseen. It can only be tested...again and again, until it works. I am here to learn about that process, and to begin my small contribution toward that end goal.

Posted by dmbenn at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2009

arrival in DC - a first-timer speaks

My flight, my arrival, my exploration of DC and my first week of work could not have gone more smoothly.

During the flight, the man next to me and I began conversing. It started off casually. I discovered that he went to Harvard Law and that he works on commercial development in Riverside, CA. Soon enough the discussion centered on politics, but more so core political beliefs and their (that is, our) underlying morals. The range of topics in this candid conversation was almost baffling. And we didn't feel uncomfortable with it, either. In fact, we felt completely comfortable. It was interesting, the connection that develped in 36 B and C of that United 747 flight. He began to tell me stories, one of which regarded the death penalty. He began to tear up as he got to the part where the man was executed; he said that this is the kind of experience which inspires him to do what he does (law). That is not to say - in the event that my dad reads this - that I have suddenly been inspired to become a lawyer! But I definitely gained a lot of wisdom from hearing Tim's experiences and morals. I think he got something out of the conversation, too, because he said a few times that he liked my perspective and that he was glad we had the conversation. In some ways, our views were very similar. He asked me, "define a terrorist." After some thinking, I said that it depends on who's defining it. His natural follow-up: "Define a freedom fighter." I hesitated. Then he asked, "When the U.S. tortures someone, can we define that as terrorism?" His central message was that we all need to follow the Golden Rule - not just within our country, but around the world. "It's as simple as that," he said. Tim plans to make a film one day where he compares modern-day Democrats to "benevolent slave owners." The comparison would be interesting, but difficult, to make. I look forward to seeing how he does it.

Ever since I stepped off the plane, everything has gone incredibly smoothly. I grabbed my bad and, just after I walked out the door, a cab came up to the curb. I figured I could ues a little rest before another involved conversation. But I guess it wasn't necessary. The cab driver, who immigrated from Ethiopia over 20 years ago, was less apt to discuss politics and morals; he preferred to talk about his family - particularly his daughters. One of them is 17 and having some trouble. Adem is just hoping that she can successfully complete community college, and then transfer to another college in the DC area. His younger daughter, 14, on the contrary, is the perfect daughter. She gets straight A's; she works so fast that her teachers have to give her extra work; she hangs out with a diverse group of peers; she gives her time to her community after school; she has perfect organizational skills; and she respects her parents (unlike her sister). Adem also told me about parenting, and how good parenting is lacking nowadays - parents slack off too much, he says. They should whip their kids into shape when they need it.

I stepped out of the taxi and beheld a breathtaking figure just a few blocks away, silhoutted against the sunset: the US Capitol. I've had fun criticizing my country in classes and whatnot, but once I came to Washington, none of that mattered anymore. The architecture and city design are so perfect, so spellbinding that I pretty mcuh forgot about all that. Really, that's the way it feels. If you think to yourself, "it's a great country, but--" the magnificence of the city will quickly melt those thoughts away. The Capitol really is something. I am living on East Capitol street, so when I walk outside to go to work in the morning and make a right at the sidewalk (I live on the North side), there it is. It's cool, too, because as I walk to work, I see all of the Congressman and eager interns heading to the building. But it's not only the Capitol building. The way in which the city was mapped out could not have been done better, it seems, at least from an outsider's perspective. It's all about the National Mall - not only its historic significance, but the fact that everything is centered around it. Smack in the middle of the city, it serves as the home, at various parts, for the Capitol, the Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian, and, just off to the side, the White House. A couple days ago I took a run over Capitol Hill, stretched at the reflecting pool - where some baby ducks were swimming with their mother and eating algae off pipes - and sprinted down the Mall against the warm, heavy wind. (I actually ran into a friend of mine along the way, who was visiting DC with his dad.)

In short, the city is just amazing. Not only does it have magnificent monuments and buildings and a little refuge in the middle of the city, but the city itself is incredibly user friendly - both in terms of public transportation and map-reading. Another thing is the diversity of the city. It's "55.6% black, 36.3% white, 8.3% Hispanic (of any race), 5% other (including Native Americans, Alaskans, Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders), 3.1% Asian, and 1.6% mixed (two or more races)." There are also a bunch of people passing through, and I assume there is a pretty large international population. The night life is vibrant - ridiculously so; I've heard that there is a street with dozens of bars, side-by-side, running down both sides of the street. I also hear that areas in nearby Virginia and Maryland are really nice, especially along the coast. I recall a comment that a professor made to me about the city: "You can feel the power when you are there," he said. Perhaps it is almost a hypnotic effect. It is the political sun of an empire. By pulling in brains, money, and oftentimes blind ambition, it builds upon itself. It builds more prestige, more money, more legitimacy. And the product of this process is something unique, something mysterious to me at the moment. It's almost a cross between New York City and LA - a cross between big money and big fame - between downright chaos and Zen-like patience. But I like the vibe. Everyone has been friendly to me. Even though the economy sucks and competition rages - at least in the backs of peoples' minds - you wouldn't know it. There is some tranquility within the city. Maybe that refuge in the center of the city holds the balance.

Posted by dmbenn at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)