3.18.05
I have a bad feeling that the chinese store in chinatown where I buy a lot of foodstuffs is closing down due to the increasing presures of gentrification downtown. I’m sure the operating costs and rents are going out the roof, to the point where they can’t survive, or that they could just make enough of a killing to retire the store. I got this idea in that when I stopped by the other day to pick up some saimin all of the china was half-off, and most of the shelves were looking sparse and half-empty. Later on outside an old chinese couple were pointing at the written signs outside and talking loudly.
Its a little strange my reaction to all of it, I immediately got homesick, and scrambled to find an alternative store within proximity of the metro, or buslines. I was able find quite a few, but none within the district. I guess its just a sign of the times, and nature of urban centers. Ethnic communities usually form because of institutional racism and cultural differences, recent immigrants usually flock to areas where the rents are more affordable. Then later on when gentrification sets in the local businesses are eventually priced out, and the chain stores come in.
If you look at chinatown in DC today, the only thing really chinese aside from the handful of chinese restuarants that are still operating is the friendship gateway, and that the storefronts have chinese characters written on them. Its strange to see Ann Taylor Loft and Starbucks written in kanji.
Went up to Catholic University for a Telecomm law conference as part of my agency’s external training. It was good to see the school where it looks likely that I’ll be starting at in the fall. I was very impressed with the facilities and programs that they offer overall, especially their Telecommunications Law Institute, which I may consider in the future. Being that IT policy and law is a growing field, and that much of the lobbying and regulatory structure is here in DC, it is an interesting area for future study. Later on I took a look at the rest of the campus as well, got to see the Basilica of the immaculate conception, a cathedral dedicated to the Catholic faith in America. It was huge, with a lot of historical and religious significance. I noticed that a lot of effort was put into showing the wide reach of Catholicism around the world, with the many shrines and alters all over the grounds.
I think its interesting how I ended up here, really coming from Hawaii to Madison, to a graduate program named after Bob LaFollette, to a law school named after the Knights of Columbus. I’ve always valued hearing and learning about different perspectives, and I’m sure that this won’t end while I’m living working and learning here DC either. I’m still looking into options of getting back into some budo while I’m in between being a student.
Some of the recent talk around town is regarding bankruptcy policy and consumer spending, namely a bill that was just passed on the hill that makes it harder for people have their debt forgiven by declaring bankruptcy. While the arguement on the sake of the credit card companies was that it would prevent fraud and abuse of peopele cheating the system, the hill shot down ammendments that would make exceptions for loss of a job, medical emergency, or strangely, identity theft. They also balked at the ammendment that would involve a loss of a family member, immediately I thought about the military families with their breadwinner in a combat zone. Additionally, the whole concept of the legislation struck me as a little hypocritical of the federal government, being that we are running up massive deficits in spending and tax cuts, but all of a sudden has gotten so fiscally hard on middle class consumers. So hypocritical it seems like a movie.
Then theres the legislation that passed 51-49 to begin exploration for oil in ANWR, a topic that has been contested for many years now. The arguement for it is that the program is welcomed by the majority of the people who will be affected by it, and that somehow the additional oil reserves could lower the price of American oil and gas at the pump. I don’t buy this for the fact that they don’t expect to see noticible returns on investment is as far off as 10 years from now, and that the reserve isn’t expected to be large enough to have long term affects on price or supply. Of course my main problem with this is that the drilling is not part of a bigger plan to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Logically we should really be focusing our attention on increasing fuel efficiency, and decreasing overall consumption.
Been doing some research into Flex car and zipcar, shared car services that offer some pretty good pricing rates, especially when it is compared to owning a car, even if the numbers are a little inflated, its still a good deal. Especially since this city is very accessible through public transportation, and on foot. I kind of see not owning a car as opting out of some of the stresses of the city, at least when it comes to dealing with the traffic and high cost of living.
Found some blogs on the Akaka bill, have been reading some interesting interpretation of the bill and what it would mean. Once again it seems like an example of trying to find a similar solution or remedy to questions that pertain to Hawaii, and finding that it doesn’t exactly fit. More specifically that Hawaii, largely because of its history and its people.