Punches to the Head are Bad

Norfolk is officially changing its policy on police training beatdowns in the wake of recruit John Kohn’s December death. Kohn had been struck in the head repeatedly leading up to his collapse. I just saw Inception, a film where police recruits are trained on self-defense via dream simulation. Too bad that’s not actually possible.

Kohn was a great guy, a local drummer, an Army Reservist, and embarking on the next chapter of his life. I hate that he’s the catalyst for this kind of change but am happy there’s going to be this shift towards safety recognition.

I’d also be interested to know what training policies Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, et al. employ during their police training.

Cranky Old Rich White

Most people know those “no parking” signs at Virginia Beach’s North End are bogus distractions placed there by affluent homeowners scared of the masses parking in their neighborhood. Everything in that area that is not in an actual driveway is public parking, fyi. You can ignore the signs, move the planters or orange cones, and boogie board the day away.

Most residents there deal with people parking in front of their homes most summer days because, well, they have no choice. They don’t pick insignificant fights with the neighbors who do attempt to block public access with fake signs or cones, however.

Until now.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

77 year-old Raymond Gottlieb is simultaneously irking the city, the tourists, and his neighbors with his mission to erect a 35-foot driveway. He has lived on his property since 1980. In 2002, the city determined North End driveways can be no wider than twelve feet. Existing driveways larger than that were grandfathered. Now he wants to tear down his home and build a new one with a big ole driveway, which the city says can’t happen as it will remove space for several existing public spots.

In retaliation, Gottlieb has spent his recent days corresponding with any official who will listen (over 200 emails and counting), ratting out his neighbors who do have signs or cones, measuring North End driveways and reporting any that are over twelve feet (so far, all he’s turned in have been grandfathered.) He is quoted as saying the city is “trying to extort” parking spots from him.

He’s being rewarded with a spot on City Council’s March 22 agenda. This is after all other channels with the city and his own civic league went nowhere.

Okay, I realize I’ve spent a ton of ink on something kind of inconsequential when there are earthquakes and tsunamis and looming nuclear meltdowns in the news as well. This is significant, though.

If Gottlieb, who compares himself (in seriousness) to a 1960s civil rights activist (!!!), gets his stupid driveway, what’s to stop other people with lots of time and money to bully their City Council into doing whatever they want at the expense of the little guy? Virginia Beach’s North End is a treasure–a public treasure locals are relieved to know about when the strip gets so clogged with tourists and traffic and other chaos. I don’t mind the signs and cones, because I know they’re not real. I also know tourists don’t know that and kind of get a kick out of it.

In ten years, when the resort area has completed its demolition of all things local and replaced the strip with Starbucks and Hilton knockoffs and parking for a day is $40, I certainly hope the North End’s still a respite from commercialism. If I’m still living here, it’s where I’d be heading. But if it’s all mansions with 35-foot driveways in which sit tiny two-seater Porsches, that’s just D class and will make the whole city look worse than it already does when it comes to locals versus tourists issues.

Illinois Abolishes Death Penalty

Common sense is now available in sixteen US states. Virginia is not one of them. Death penalty cases may often warrant severity. However, on the risk versus reward scale, one mistaken ‘guilty’ equates to our government murdering innocent people. I cannot accept that, even at the expense of letting other guilty persons remain in prison.

Vegan Betty

Vegan Chicken Wings by Annie Shannon

Local vegan Annie Shannon took inspiration from Julie & Julia (in which a young woman blogs and cooks her way through Julia Child’s classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking.) Shannon, turned off by the lobster-killing scene in the film, decided instead to veganize another cooking classic, The Betty Crocker Cookbook. You can read her adventures in local cooking here.

And if you get a chance, take a minute to say something nice to Shannon on the Pilot comments. There are a lot of redneck vegan haters in this area who think they’re funny but they’re actually downright ignorant and mean.

PS: I’m a meat eater. They’re still ignorant and mean.

Park Place Update

While neighborhoods in Northern Suffolk are being recognized for their racial integration, the new census data shows areas of South Hampton Roads are still heavily divided along color lines. Park Place is 89% African-American, and civic leader Rodney Jordan is singled out as an anomaly for attempting to change this. Park Place is a historic neighborhood, which may be why less effort is made to change anything. “That kind of racial isolation can lead to inequities in housing, schools, social services, and quality of life,” the Pilot reports.

Let me be clear, though. Integration and gentrification are not–and should not–mean the same thing. Integration is the ideal, melting-pot idea of America, with many cultures living peacefully and sharing in each other’s differences. Gentrification is the dominant (usually white) culture steamrolling in and snobbing up the neighborhood with intimidation tactics that result in the minority retreating to a different locale.