Heyyyyy youuuuuu guyyyyyyys.....

Ahh, I'm back from my vacation in beautiful, non-hurricane-having Las Vegas.

For the record, my section of Arlington was relatively unscathed. My apartment's power was out from 11:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., during which I was generally asleep.

Other people, it turns out, not so lucky, and some have been without power the entire time I was away, with Pepco receiving more criticism for its poor response times (after a big storm a few weeks ago prompted complaints about customer service).

Of all the movies set in the future, I have to say that I'm disappointed that the one that's been second-most accurate is Robocop, in which a privatized police force is paralyzed by corruption and corporate in-fighting.

(By the way, the most accurate would be The Running Man, which is about a reality game show where fugitives are stalked and killed on live television. Also features a steel-cage death match between Gov. Jesse Ventura and potential Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's just eerie.)

But my point is, why privatize a utility that's of such vital importance to our economy and way of life? It's hard to hold a private electric company responsible for its failings when there are no other companies to choose from.

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), said he was finally "ready to lower the hammer" after what he described as Pepco's non-response to a downed line in Silver Spring that spit sparks for hours. Despite one resident's repeated calls, Duncan said no Pepco crew came out. When county officials later pressed the matter with the company, it said it had no record of the resident's calls. "That's when I hit the roof," Duncan said.

Yeah, Doug Duncan bringin' the pain!

Honestly, does anyone really think that Washington would be anything but utter chaos if we did get hit with some kind of nuclear/terrorist attack? The infrastructre falls completely to fucking pieces after a glancing blow from a tropical storm. There would be some serious Lord of the Flies shit going on if something really serious hit town. Don't be here when that happens.

(Not that I have anything planned, Mr. Ashcroft.)