Actions have consequences. Who knew?

So a couple years ago, Walmart planned to open five stores in Washington, DC. Of course they were opposed by the unions, who hate Walmart because they aren't a union shop, and by numerous Democrats on the union payroll and assorted leftists, yuppies and hipsters that have recently moved into Washington DC and immediately began decrying the gentrification that allowed them to do so.

DC built three of the five stores, putting them in the better neighborhoods. Part of the deal that they made with DC was that two of the stores would have to be put in the "low income" neighborhoods, aka: the ghetto areas.

Next, the DC council and the mayor pushed through new laws in the District that jumped the minimum wage, first to $11.50 an hour but with another proposal on the table to boost it to $15.00 an hour (but only in large businesses like Walmart) and forced (large) employers to pay for family and medical leave for their employees and set a minimum number of hours for any part-timers that they choose to hire. Walmart, already seeing losses in their big-box stores from internet competitors like Amazon, did the math on what DC's pending legislation would cost it and decided that the two new stores that they had originally planned to build likely would not be profitable. So they did what any other responsible business would do--they cut their losses and walked away from the plan to put the two new stores down in the 'hood.

Naturally, the Democrats who killed this golden goose--and their cheerleader, the Washington Post--are furious now.

District leaders furious Walmart breaking promise to build stores in poor neighborhoods

They seek to blame Walmart for backing out on the new stores and the jobs and goods that it would have made available to the folks in those neighborhoods, but the real fact is that, by voting to enact new measures that raised Walmart's cost of doing business, they pretty much ensured that Walmart could not run those stores profitably, especially in areas where theft and insurance costs are above average and where nearby suburban shoppers are unlikely to shop anyway for fear of the crime rate in those neighborhoods. Originally it was thought that profits generated at the three stores in the better areas would balance out the two less-desirable locations, but when DC raised the cost of doing business at all of them--all while continuing to bad-mouth Walmart for being non-union and paying wages that no one except Walmart employees seem to want--Walmart's board did what they had to and cut DC loose. And the only ones who never saw this coming, apparently, are the ones in DC government who made it all happen.

Good job, DC Council and Mayor. You've proven again why DC cannot be given a vote in Congress and why it should probably lose the limited self-rule that it currently has. When you let children plan the household menu without oversight, it'll be cake and ice cream for dinner every night. And then one day you'll wonder why everyone is sickly and the dental costs are through the roof.

Something tells me it's all happening at the zoo.

I do believe it. I do believe it's true.

Since my saintly mother has come to visit for a few days, I decided to take her to the National Zoo in Washington, DC yesterday. (Heck, it never hurts to see what they might be willing to offer in trade.)

Being Columbus Day, that day when we celebrate the Italian guy who discovered America and infuriated American leftists a few centuries later, traffic was light to nonexistent because all of the federal employees in DC had the day off. (And America didn't even miss them, as usual.)

They had lions. Lotsa lions.

They had an orangutan who swung on cables overhead, moving from one exhibit to another as he pleased.

Right turn, Clyde.

There was a Cuban Crocodile.

A pair of Dama Gazelles.

And there was a Sitatunga.

Here I drew a nasty look from two short-haired social-justice types next to us when they were grousing amongst themselves about how man is wiping out the habitat for such creatures and I sympathized and stated that it was a shame because they probably really tasted good.

Elephants! This zoo has a really large and impressive elephant exhibit. At the time though, only a couple of them were out and where you could see them.

There were a few peacocks strutting around inside their rather impressive bird habitat.

And they even had a bunch of cardinals, which were mostly probably local but they added to the color nicely.

This nice young lady was telling everyone about her beaver.

Free beaver shots!

(That ought to get my site traffic up a bit. And if you came here looking for something else, shame on you.)

They had seals here, both Harbor Seals and Gray Seals.

"Hey, does anyone here know what seals like to drink? Anything but Canadian Club! Thank you...I'll be here all day."
Yeah, that one got groans from the other people looking at the seals, too.

And there was one Andean Bear visible.

They had a lazy tiger who was sleeping in the back of his exhibit, no doubt just to ruin my "lions and tigers and bears..." meme, and a Gray Wolf who was beautiful but impossible to photograph because he was hiding in the back corner of the pen, doubtless due to the shrieking of little kids who were, sadly, plentiful on this day. My suggestion that we toss a little kid or two to the wolf seemed to draw mixed reactions, depending on who else around us had one of those kids or not.

All in all, the DC Zoo is worth a visit. I'd actually not been before and I thought that it was a decent medium-sized zoo with a good selection of animals, most of whom are in outdoor habitats with plenty of room for them and good views for us. And it is free, although it's run by the Smithsonian, so it's really "Smithsonian Free", meaning that admission costs you nothing but if you want to park your car, buy food or souvenirs or even get a map to the exhibits, you'd better have a pail of cash or good credit.

Washington DC gun law struck down AGAIN

Once more, a judge has ruled that Washington, DC is in violation of the US Constitution for it's practice of requiring applicants for concealed weapons permits to show a documented need.

Federal Judge Says DC Gun Carry Law is Unconstitutional

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction saying the District of Columbia’s new concealed carry law is unconstitutional.

The order, issued Monday by Judge Frederick J. Scullin, was the second decision in less than a year declaring the Washington, D.C., gun carry laws to be unconstitutional. In October of 2014, the same judge ruled that the district’s complete ban on gun carry was also in violation of the Constitution.

Scullin barred DC Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier from enforcing the city’s requirement that a person applying for a concealed carry permit must prove they have a “good reason” to need one. This requirement created a system where only those with police reports detailing violent threats against them could obtain a permit.

There's more at the link. And while it's good to see citizens triumph when their rights are denied them by our own "public servants", I still have to shake my head at the DC voters who elect and re-elect the same candidates for mayor and city council year after year despite the fact that this city government more than almost any other works so hard to deny it's citizens basic rights while working just as hard to create "rights" out of whole cloth for thousands of illegal aliens who are not even supposed to be in this country.

D.C. to Illegal Immigrants: Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell – Don’t Worry

Washington DC Grants Driver's Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

What was that saying about how we get the government that we deserve again?

Oh--and on the gun side of things, yesterday Proud Hillbilly and I had the pleasure of meeting blogger Jon from The steel Bookshelf. A great guy, and if you like books, check out his site.

Washington DC Flyover pics

OK, I've been busy the last few days, but not too busy to make my way downtown DC today to see the WW2 flyover.

Most of the pics will follow tomorrow when I get home and clean them up, but these four, raw from my camera, should serve as a teeaser until then:

Yeah, it was that cool.

And having Stretch and his veteran dad along was serious icing on the cake. Great day.


Come back tomorrow for more.

Was That a Pig I Saw Flying By?

It must have been, because I'd always thought that pigs would fly before Washington, DC issued a mere citizen a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

Washington DC issues first concealed carry permits.

It sounds like it's still an onerous process, with applicants having to overcome some showing of need and jump through some tight hoops, but it's still a lot better than it was before and the foot is in the door. And with DC now allowing some form of permitting, that removes the last jurisdiction in America that categorically denied everyone that right.

Score: Freedom-loving Americans 50; Anti-gun Democrats 0.

Victim Turns The Tables On Would-Be Robber, Shoots Him With His Own Gun

So in Washington DC, a place where it's illegal to carry guns, an 18 year old named Channel Johnson (seriously!) tried to rob a man with a shotgun.

Unfortunately for Channel, his intended victim grabbed the shotgun from Channel and shot him dead with it. (And yes, I'm smiling as I type this.) As a result, Channel got switched off permanently.

Man kills robber after wresting shotgun away from attacker, D.C. police say

A man who was being robbed in Southeast Washington on Wednesday wrested a shotgun away from a gunman and fatally shot his attacker, D.C. police said on Thursday.

The man who died was identified as Channel Johnson, 18, of Southeast. Police said they questioned the man who was robbed but have not filed charges. The incident has been classified as a death investigation, and is continuing. Police initially said Johnson was shot in the back. He died at an area hospital.

As of this time, the local media is searching for a relative who will give the standard teary pronouncment about how "he was a good boy...just getting ready to turn his life around and get a job and everything." It's also reported that Al Sharpton announced that he was going to speak at Channel's funeral, but then he found out that no white police officers were responsible for Channel's death and he canceled.

It's not known where or when Channel Johnson's funeral will be, but if you want to attend, I'm told that the obligatory funeral t-shirts with his picture on them can be obtained from any one of his close relations.

Fingerprints and new fees for legal gun owners in DC

See what happens when we let our "public servant" overlords force us to register our guns?

MILLER: Every D.C. firearm owner to be fingerprinted to renew gun registry

"Hey DC gun owners...we finally gave in to the courts and let you jump though numerous hoops to buy and register guns, and now that you haven't caused any trouble with them--get on down here and give us your fingerprints and pay us more money. And if you don't...you'll be a felon!"

This is what DC's gun-owning minority is now hearing from their city council. Even though the police chief, Cathy Lanier, who is no friend to gun owners herself, testified against it, claiming that it would be more burdensome than beneficial, Council Chair Phil "Drivers licenses for illegals" Mendelson rammed it though anyway. (I wonder if illegals who own guns will have to give their fingerprints?)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: DC has proven itself unwilling and unable to govern itself fairly and efficiently. Time to revoke it's "home rule", fire it's mayor, disband it's city council, and turn it back over to Congress to run.

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument was damaged by the earthquake two years ago. It's been closed ever since. There's scaffolding all around it now as repairs are underway.
This week, the park service turned on the lights for the first time. I happened to be down town and snapped these with my phone.For those of you who haven't seen it recently, it definitely looks a bit different than it used to.

They say they'll have it done by Spring. Color me skeptical.

Congressman's son beats woman, media ignores it.

One of December's most under-reported stories was that of Patrick Moran, Democrat Jim Moran's good-for-nothing vote-fraud-encouraging son, Patrick Moran, who was charged with a felony on december 1st for beating his girlfriend and slamming her head into a metal trashcan in Washington DC, fracturing her skull.

Well it pays to know people in the District of Columbia (or have a daddy who does) because he just got his felony charge knocked down to a misdemeanor and was given probation in a lightning-fast fast-track disposition that saw the entire case concluded in less than two weeks from the commission of the crime to the disposition in court. For those of you not familiar with DC Superior Court, which normally moves at a glacial pace, that's nothing short of incredible. Natually, people should be asking what role daddy played in this sweetheart deal, and maybe they would if the newspapers had covered it at all. But Congressman Moran apparently has the same friends in the media that refused to report anything that might have made Obama look bad, because it was a total non-story except for little tabloid articles like this one which was just generated by the bar where it occurred as damage control.

Congressman Moran, to his shame, merely calls the vicious domestic violence crime "an embarrassing accident" and claims that his son deserves privacy. Stay classy, James Moran.

I have to wonder how public this all would be had Patrick been the son of a Republican when he commited this violent crime in our nation's capitol.

Oh--and the assault was witnessed by both a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant and an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration investigator and a police report was generated which, in conjunction with his son's guilty plea in court, makes the Congressman a bald-faced liar.
Click on the report to enlarge.

Washington DC by bike

This morning, I had to go down to Washington DC for work. Since it wasn't going to be a full day, and since it looked so nice outside, I took my bike with me. And after work, I drove down to the National Mall, unlimbered it, and went for a bit of a ride.

Here's the Washington Monument. At 555 feet, 5 and an eighth inches tall, it's the tallest structure in the District. Alas, it's still closed following the earthquake that shook it up last year.

Going east, here's the Smithsonian Castle, the original Smithsonian Museum.

At the east end of the mall, past some renovation fencing, we have the United States Capitol.

Turning around, it was just a short ride up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

At least this time, I did not see the Secret Service out walking one of their patrol dogs. That always gets some tourist exclaiming: "Look, It's the Obama's dog! It's Bo!" Tourists can be real mouth-breathers sometimes, especially when you're trying to ride past them on your bike and they spread our across the sidewalk/bike path/roadway that you're on, totally oblivious to your approach even when they are walking towards you.

Next came the World War Two Memorial, or as much as I could photograph with all of the people who seemed obsessed with getting into my shots.

Then it was west down the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, which was just packed full of tourists.

I didn't bother going up this time. But the view back towards the Washington Monument was nice.

Cheese it! It's the cops!

Next I rode across Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery. Can't ride bikes inside, but I could stop and take this picture of the entrance, with the Robert E. Lee mansion atop the hill.

It's an honor to even be able to ride past it.

Next came a scenic view from the west side of the Potomac, looking back at the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the US Capitol all in a row.

This was on the way to the Iwo Jima Memorial, a monument that I truly love.

The detail is astounding.

I was going to ride across Key Bridge into Georgetown, but it was just too crowded for a bike, so after riding through downtown Arlington, I dipped back down the bike path along the George Washington Memorial Parkway and rode across the bridge to Theodore Roosevelt Island.

Here's Teddy!

And the view from the footbridge back up thew river to the Key Bridge, with Arlington, VA on the left, and Georgetown, DC on the right.

And lots of planes overhead, since we're in the approach path for Reagan National Airport.

Then it was back down the bike path to Memorial Bridge again, and eventually back to my truck.

Distance covered: about eight miles. Elapsed time: not quite two hours. Weather: beautiful. Satisfaction: high.