Fact: Police have been called to Traffic 68 times this year.
Fact: Police have been called to Jordan Creek 100 times this year.
Fact: More African-Americans party at Traffic than at Jordan Creek.
From those three facts, however, you cannot infer that city officials are being racist by cracking down harder on Traffic than on Jordan Creek. In this case, one thing does not lead to another.
But there's no way to deny a racial aspect to the melee a week ago outside Traffic in downtown Springfield. You can't ignore the obvious.
Racial. Not racist. And there is a big difference, all political correctness aside.
The mostly white police officers outside Traffic last weekend were in a sea of partygoers, many of them black. Most people in both groups were facing an unfamiliar situation. Racial differences existed. But unless some white cop was arresting people because they were black, it ain't racism.
The manager of Traffic plans to "pretty much eliminate rap" from the club's playlists; he says violent lyricism in hardcore hip-hop could incite real-life violence on the streets of downtown Springfield.
It is a fact that hip-hop's biggest stars often live violent (and short) lives. Several are caught up in rivalries that lead to shootings outside radio stations and the occasional homicide. The boys from rock band System Of A Down aren't trading gunfire with the members of Coldplay (though if they did, Coldplay would lose in a few seconds and we would no longer be subjected to that whiny crap passing as music).
Noting that difference isn't racism. But because most hip-hop stars (especially the slain ones) are black, it is racial. (Eminem, however, has been inside his share of courtrooms for pulling weapons and attempting to beat some ass, and he's as white as Elvis Presley.)
Is the Traffic flap all about race? Of course not.
City officials slammed into the club, citing the club's management for an out-of-compliance awning (!) and threatening to help yank its liquor license. They have not used the same zeal to force Jordan Creek to clean up its act -- but Jordan Creek hasn't had an open-air bottle toss on the street outside the club, with cops as targets.
An earlier post about Traffic drew comments that suggested racism on our part, because we noted that Jordan Creek caters to frat boys. A News-Leader sound-off board has a similar race conversation going.
Discussing race isn't racism, a disease with plenty of carriers in Springfield. The city and the region need to discuss race, and we hope the Traffic melee will hasten such a discussion, because Springfield has needed it for, oh, about 99 years.
Friday, October 21, 2005
BLUNT TIED TO DELAY IN NEW TV AD
The Public Campaign Action Fund, a liberal organization, showed off the ad on Friday, timing its release to Rep. Tom DeLay's arraignment on a money laundering charge in Texas.
The ad is significant to Ozarkers because it explictly ties Rep. Roy Blunt to DeLay's alleged funny-money business. Blunt, in fact, seems to be the focus of the 30-second spot, as his smiling chipmunk face floats in a washing machine (money laundering; get it?).
You can looksee the ad by clicking here.
The ad is significant to Ozarkers because it explictly ties Rep. Roy Blunt to DeLay's alleged funny-money business. Blunt, in fact, seems to be the focus of the 30-second spot, as his smiling chipmunk face floats in a washing machine (money laundering; get it?).
You can looksee the ad by clicking here.
THE INDICTMENT LIST
When the grand jury hands up indictments in the Valerie Plame leak investigation -- only the most partisan Republican would insist on clinging to "if" -- the immediate reaction will be as divisive as the O.J. verdict. Republicans will be outraged at the "criminalization of politics." Democrats will be glad that someone finally stuck it to The Man.
That Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Karl Rove will be indicted is no longer debatable. The two most powerful aides in the Bush White House are about to be charged. Maybe conspiracy, maybe perjury, maybe obstruction of justice. Maybe all three.
Libby, especially, seems screwed to the wall, placed there by his friend/sycophant Judith Miller, the disgraced New York Times reporter. According to a piece by Murray Waas in National Journal, both Libby and Miller were very unsure about any meeting in June 2003 -- until the special prosecutor showed Miller the Secret Service logs into the Eisenhower Executive Office building. You know, the logs that proved she had been to see Libby on June 23.
Miller is safe from prosecution. That's what happens to good squealers.
But Rove and Libby? Hosed. Screwed. That's what happens when smart men try to outsmart a special prosecutor who's smarter. Rove and Libby thought they could play cute, remember to forget things and get away with everything by blaming reporters -- the damned liberal media -- for all the leaks.
Near as we can untangle it, Libby claims he and Rove sat around and discussed what they learned about Plame from reporters. Libby claims Tim Russert was his source, while Rove claims he learned all about it from Bob Novak, columnist better known as Novakula, prince of the living dead.
The real sources appear to be John Hannah and David Wurmser. Both worked in Dick Cheney's office. Both have apparently turned on their worm boss and are doing their best Ned Beatty imitations.
Others who have testified before the grand jury, or been interviewed by the prosecutor, include former White House flack Ari Fleischer, and current National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Both seem to be especially deep in the Plame muck (the complete list of squealers, yakkers and stonewallers can be found here).
After reading too many stories and watching too much analysis, we're betting that Hadley, Fleischer, Mary Matalin and the two chief leakers (Rove & Libby) will be indicted. We're also pretty certain that Dick Cheney and his evil cabal are the ultimate bad guys in this, but the special prosecutor probably can't prove it.
Indictments by this time next week, at the latest. The "Wurmser Turns" headline has already been used.
That Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Karl Rove will be indicted is no longer debatable. The two most powerful aides in the Bush White House are about to be charged. Maybe conspiracy, maybe perjury, maybe obstruction of justice. Maybe all three.
Libby, especially, seems screwed to the wall, placed there by his friend/sycophant Judith Miller, the disgraced New York Times reporter. According to a piece by Murray Waas in National Journal, both Libby and Miller were very unsure about any meeting in June 2003 -- until the special prosecutor showed Miller the Secret Service logs into the Eisenhower Executive Office building. You know, the logs that proved she had been to see Libby on June 23.
Miller is safe from prosecution. That's what happens to good squealers.
But Rove and Libby? Hosed. Screwed. That's what happens when smart men try to outsmart a special prosecutor who's smarter. Rove and Libby thought they could play cute, remember to forget things and get away with everything by blaming reporters -- the damned liberal media -- for all the leaks.
Near as we can untangle it, Libby claims he and Rove sat around and discussed what they learned about Plame from reporters. Libby claims Tim Russert was his source, while Rove claims he learned all about it from Bob Novak, columnist better known as Novakula, prince of the living dead.
The real sources appear to be John Hannah and David Wurmser. Both worked in Dick Cheney's office. Both have apparently turned on their worm boss and are doing their best Ned Beatty imitations.
Others who have testified before the grand jury, or been interviewed by the prosecutor, include former White House flack Ari Fleischer, and current National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Both seem to be especially deep in the Plame muck (the complete list of squealers, yakkers and stonewallers can be found here).
After reading too many stories and watching too much analysis, we're betting that Hadley, Fleischer, Mary Matalin and the two chief leakers (Rove & Libby) will be indicted. We're also pretty certain that Dick Cheney and his evil cabal are the ultimate bad guys in this, but the special prosecutor probably can't prove it.
Indictments by this time next week, at the latest. The "Wurmser Turns" headline has already been used.
BIG NIGHT FOR TRAFFIC
Club bosses, however, are handling it in slipshod fashion. A report in Friday's News-Leader noted that an anticipated dress code still hadn't been written or set by Thursday night. But manager Sean Kisner still managed to proclaim that "we know it's going to work."
Mmm-hmm. We'll see.
Meanwhile, we have a better guess as to why Springfield police are no longer allowing anyone but the chief to discuss the downtown incident. On Thursday, police released statistics that make it very difficult for the city to defend its ham-fisted actions against Traffic.
Through Oct. 16, police have been called to Traffic 68 times this year. That figure includes 22 assaults.
For the same period, cops were called 100 times to Jordan Creek, another big downtown nightclub. That figure includes 19 assaults.
Yet the city isn't pushing for the closure of Jordan Creek. Earlier this week, city types were trying to explain away the difference by noting that Jordan Creek's calls were not nearly as serious in nature as those coming from Traffic. The numbers say otherwise.
The big difference between the bars? Traffic catered to a "urban clientele." Jordan Creek is where frat boys hang out.
Mmm-hmm. We'll see.
Meanwhile, we have a better guess as to why Springfield police are no longer allowing anyone but the chief to discuss the downtown incident. On Thursday, police released statistics that make it very difficult for the city to defend its ham-fisted actions against Traffic.
Through Oct. 16, police have been called to Traffic 68 times this year. That figure includes 22 assaults.
For the same period, cops were called 100 times to Jordan Creek, another big downtown nightclub. That figure includes 19 assaults.
Yet the city isn't pushing for the closure of Jordan Creek. Earlier this week, city types were trying to explain away the difference by noting that Jordan Creek's calls were not nearly as serious in nature as those coming from Traffic. The numbers say otherwise.
The big difference between the bars? Traffic catered to a "urban clientele." Jordan Creek is where frat boys hang out.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
TOM DELAY MUGSHOT
Looking every inch the smiling, gladhanding pol, the former majority leader of the House of Representatives was booked, fingerprinted and posed for a mugshot in the Harris County, Texas, sheriff's department.
DeLay was at the pokey on Thursday to answer an arrest warrant for alleged money laundering. The Smoking Gun, of course, has the mug.
DeLay was at the pokey on Thursday to answer an arrest warrant for alleged money laundering. The Smoking Gun, of course, has the mug.
TRAFFIC TALK
Earlier today, News-Leader columnist Michael Brothers posted his column in the comments section of an earlier blog entry. Brothers' column is now online and can be found here.
As we noted to him in an e-mail reply, he brings up several good points, and his reasonable voice cuts through the music-is-evil nonsense. We're also glad he's continuing the coverage in the News-Leader; the jam outside Traffic early Saturday morning has certainly started a conversation.
Vince Jericho, the morning talker on KSGF, is beating the drum against the City of Springfield for putting the hammer down on the club; Jericho thinks that's moving the problem, not solving it. Or so he says in his blog.
(Our own prior Traffic postings can be found here, here, here and here.)
Not talking about Traffic anymore: the police department's public information officers. An e-mail sent to reporters on Thursday said that effective noon, "all media questions pertaining to the incident that happened at Traffic and other questions regarding bars and nightclubs downtown should be forwarded to the Chief of Police Office."
Got gums to flap about Traffic? Click here and send us your thoughts. Or post 'em in the handy comments section.
As we noted to him in an e-mail reply, he brings up several good points, and his reasonable voice cuts through the music-is-evil nonsense. We're also glad he's continuing the coverage in the News-Leader; the jam outside Traffic early Saturday morning has certainly started a conversation.
Vince Jericho, the morning talker on KSGF, is beating the drum against the City of Springfield for putting the hammer down on the club; Jericho thinks that's moving the problem, not solving it. Or so he says in his blog.
(Our own prior Traffic postings can be found here, here, here and here.)
Not talking about Traffic anymore: the police department's public information officers. An e-mail sent to reporters on Thursday said that effective noon, "all media questions pertaining to the incident that happened at Traffic and other questions regarding bars and nightclubs downtown should be forwarded to the Chief of Police Office."
Got gums to flap about Traffic? Click here and send us your thoughts. Or post 'em in the handy comments section.
TRAFFIC: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
The Traffic nightclub incident continues to draw comment from readers, like this from Thom:
Thought that I might add a little personal perspective about Traffic: It was a bad place and needs to be shut down.
Normally I would be crying some sort of foul. As a denizen of Patton Alley where my primary hangout, Queen City Cycles, resides I am quite pleased with the city's latest jihad. Traffic club goers are constantly mouthy and rude to everyone downtown, particularly cyclists. I have been verbally assaulted by Trafficers several times, and everyone who frequents the bike shop has a similar story, including my daughter who is nine.Earlier in the evening of the most recent incident a small group on the sidewalk outside Traffic tried to start a fight with my friend Josh, who is one of the owners of Queen City Cycles.
We are trying to encourage a Vibrating, Clean and Safe downtown (vibrant is okay, but vibrating has flavor crystals!). We have weekly rides, we drink heartily at the pubs, we spend our dollars at the shops and eateries that are downtown; we ride with our kids and our kids spend dollars downtown.
You can have an exiting downtown that has bars and family-friendly entertainment. The problem with Traffic is that it openly catered to and encouraged underage drinking. Most of the kids that could be found there were closer to high school than legal drinking age and I can't imagine that they were very strict with their ID policy. The attitude of the place was all tough guy, spring break booty contest.
I am glad that I won't have to deal with Traffic at least for the near term. These are my opinions and are colored by my views of that scene, but trust me, most downtowners that prefer to drink a beer, have some food and enjoy the scene will tell you they are pleased Traffic is on the ropes.
BTW, the suggestions you made regarding staggered close, food and beverage after close and learning from places like Jordan Valley are right on, I'm glad that you are saying it. Too bad the Snooze Leader and the rest of the reactionaries aren't.
U.S. HELD HOSTAGE BY CHENEY-RUMSFELD 'CABAL'
We're not saying it, though we believe it. The source for this amazingly brutal accusation is Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell.
What he said, according to the Financial Times:
Read the transcript of Wilkerson's remarks here. Don't blame the damned liberal media for Lawrence Wilkerson. Blame Bush & Co.
What he said, according to the Financial Times:
“What I saw was a cabal between the vice-president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made. Now it is paying the consequences of making those decisions in secret, but far more telling to me is America is paying the consequences.”
Read the transcript of Wilkerson's remarks here. Don't blame the damned liberal media for Lawrence Wilkerson. Blame Bush & Co.
MOTORIST, 94, DRIVES WITH BODY LODGED IN WINDSHIELD
We don't believe the guy will be getting his license back anytime soon. From the St. Pete Times:
The driver told officers he thought the body had fallen from the sky, said St. Petersburg police Officer Mike Jockers.
"He had no idea he had been involved in an accident," Jockers said. "He doesn't totally understand what happened."
The crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. when the 52-year-old pedestrian attempted to cross 34th Street S from east to west near 46th Avenue S, witnesses told police.
The pedestrian made it across two of the southbound lanes before he was hit by a 2002 Chevy Malibu, which was traveling about 45 mph, police said.
The impact severed the pedestrian's lower right leg, which remained in the street. His head and arms went through the windshield, while the rest of his body flipped up onto the roof of the car, Jockers said.
"The driver continued southbound, as the eyewitness said, like nothing happened," Jockers said.
As the car approached the toll plaza, the toll taker thought it was a prank, until he saw the blood.
When the driver stopped, the body fell into the car, Jockers said.
A veteran traffic investigator, Jockers said it was one of the most gruesome scenes he has worked.
Neither the name of the driver nor the name of the victim was released Wednesday.
The victim had been living in a motel on 34th Street S. Friends said he had been trying to get to McDonald's for a bite to eat, Jockers said.
The driver, who lives in Pinellas Park, told police that he was headed home. Pinellas Park, however, is miles in the opposite direction.
"Obviously, he was confused," Jockers said. "Incredibly confused."
The driver was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for evaluation.
He will probably not face criminal charges, as he appeared unaware that he had been involved in an accident, Jockers said.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
PENTAGON RENEGES ON BONUS PROMISE
Pentagon officials said late last year that they would pay a $15,000 bonus to National Guard and Army Reserve members who extended their enlistments by six years.
They lied.
From the News-Tribune in Tacoma:
They lied.
From the News-Tribune in Tacoma:
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, confirmed the bonuses had been canceled, saying they violated Pentagon policies because they duplicated other programs. She said Guard and Reserve members would be eligible for other bonuses.
Krenke said some soldiers had been paid the re-enlistment bonuses, but she was unsure how many or whether the money would have to be repaid.
CLEAN, SAFE AND VIBRANT
The Urban Districts Alliance embraces the phrase as its goal for downtown Springfield. Clean and safe, surely so; who wants a dangerous, fetid-smelling downtown?
Vibrancy, on the other hand, isn't as easy to define or defend. We happen to think nightclubs and eateries and cool local retail epitomize a vibrant downtown; some believe the bars are bad for a city that prides itself on raising families, not fusses.
The UDA sounds like it firmly belongs in the latter camp. Rusty Worley, the UDA executive director, is "working ... to assure business owners that the city is taking measures to try to shut down the Traffic nightclub," according to a city news release. A "vibrant" downtown seems less the goal than a "compliant" downtown, one that goes along and gets along without addressing (or even trying to solve) the long-term issues:
•A 1:30 a.m. closing time for every bar is antiquated thinking. The city should allow later staggered closing times, shutting off booze sales at 1:30 but creating a bigger window so there won't be an all-at-once rush onto the streets.
•The city should encourage other downtown businesses to serve food or non-alcoholic beverages after the bars close. Any diversion would help keep drunks in line.
•The city and UDA should offer examples where nightclubs halted or otherwise prevented a Traffic-like melee. Jordan Creek entertains several hundred people a night; the club's management apparently handles their traffic better than Traffic ever did.
•The city should recruit and retain more minority police officers, and be straightforward in the difficulties of doing so. Racial tensions exist when a mostly-white police force clashes with a crowd of black nightclubbers.
Shutting down Traffic won't make the ruffians vanish from Springfield. They'll simply turn up at another club, probably somewhere downtown. What's the plan for preventing another Saturday morning brawl? We're waiting to hear something more substantial than "clean, safe and vibrant."
Vibrancy, on the other hand, isn't as easy to define or defend. We happen to think nightclubs and eateries and cool local retail epitomize a vibrant downtown; some believe the bars are bad for a city that prides itself on raising families, not fusses.
The UDA sounds like it firmly belongs in the latter camp. Rusty Worley, the UDA executive director, is "working ... to assure business owners that the city is taking measures to try to shut down the Traffic nightclub," according to a city news release. A "vibrant" downtown seems less the goal than a "compliant" downtown, one that goes along and gets along without addressing (or even trying to solve) the long-term issues:
•A 1:30 a.m. closing time for every bar is antiquated thinking. The city should allow later staggered closing times, shutting off booze sales at 1:30 but creating a bigger window so there won't be an all-at-once rush onto the streets.
•The city should encourage other downtown businesses to serve food or non-alcoholic beverages after the bars close. Any diversion would help keep drunks in line.
•The city and UDA should offer examples where nightclubs halted or otherwise prevented a Traffic-like melee. Jordan Creek entertains several hundred people a night; the club's management apparently handles their traffic better than Traffic ever did.
•The city should recruit and retain more minority police officers, and be straightforward in the difficulties of doing so. Racial tensions exist when a mostly-white police force clashes with a crowd of black nightclubbers.
Shutting down Traffic won't make the ruffians vanish from Springfield. They'll simply turn up at another club, probably somewhere downtown. What's the plan for preventing another Saturday morning brawl? We're waiting to hear something more substantial than "clean, safe and vibrant."
CITY SERVES TRAFFIC WITH NUISANCE NOTICE
The city accuses the downtown nightclub of being "used for the commission of crimes, ordinance violations, or acts done, permitted, allowed or continued which is resulting in damage or injury to inhabitants of the City of Springfield."
Citing Section 74-392 of the municipal code, City Attorney Dan Wichmer hit the club with the notice late Wednesday. Other allegations outlined by Wichmer:
On Tuesday the city also slapped Traffic for having an awning that wasn't in compliance with city code. That's according to KYTV. Nary a word about the club's woes in Wednesday's News-Leader. There was, however, a nice wire story about Hurricane Wilma as it "turns toward Florida." It hasn't happened yet, of course, but if and when it does, the local paper will be way ahead of the game.
Citing Section 74-392 of the municipal code, City Attorney Dan Wichmer hit the club with the notice late Wednesday. Other allegations outlined by Wichmer:
Said violations include, but are not limited to, harassing or intimidating conduct towards persons in the neighborhood or passing by the location, noise, street and or sidewalk congestion, assaults, battery, and public affrays by the occupants, or persons frequenting 220 W. Walnut.
Continuation of said uses of said property constitutes a Public Nuisance, if said uses continue, the city attorney will file a petition seeking court-ordered relief pursuant to Code Section 74-393; up to and including an order requiring the vacating of the premises for up to year.
On Tuesday the city also slapped Traffic for having an awning that wasn't in compliance with city code. That's according to KYTV. Nary a word about the club's woes in Wednesday's News-Leader. There was, however, a nice wire story about Hurricane Wilma as it "turns toward Florida." It hasn't happened yet, of course, but if and when it does, the local paper will be way ahead of the game.
NAVY TO BLAME FOR BEACHED WHALES, LAWSUIT CLAIMS
Sonar used to detect enemy subs could be driving whales and dolphins to their deaths, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Associated Press reports:
The sonar "is capable of flooding thousands of square miles of ocean with dangerous levels of noise pollution" according to the lawsuit.
The Navy settled a similar lawsuit two years ago by agreeing to limit the peacetime use of experimental low-frequency sonar to specific areas along the eastern seaboard of Asia.
The new lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other plaintiffs seeks a court order to curb mid-frequency sonar, the Navy's most common method of detecting enemy submarines.
At a news conference, NRDC spokesman Daniel Hinerfeld said the group recognized the Navy's need to detect enemies but wants sonar used more carefully.
"We're not trying to shut them down," Hinerfeld said. "There are all sorts of simple practices you can take to minimize the impact of sonar on whales and other marine life."
The environmentalists want the Navy to use harmless passive sonar to locate mammals before using mid-frequency sonar. They also want the Navy to avoid migration and calving areas and to ramp up sonar systems gradually so that the animals have time to flee.
WILMA BECOMES FREAK STORM
Historic drop in pressure to 901mb, an 80mb drop in 24 hours. The National Hurricane Center says Wilma will be a Category 5 storm later on Wednesday.
Look out, Florida.
Look out, Florida.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
GOVERNOR SENT TO THE (DRY) CLEANERS
Gov. Matt Blunt had quite the Monday, according to our spies. Someone walking into the Glo Dry Cleaning on South National Avenue, near Cherry Street, would have caught the diminutive Missouri governor sorting the family dry cleaning on the floor of said establishment, while his trusty driver waited outside.
The governor of the great state of Missouri. Sorting dry cleaning. On the floor.
Pardon us, but doesn't the governor have, you know, work to do on a Monday?
The governor of the great state of Missouri. Sorting dry cleaning. On the floor.
Pardon us, but doesn't the governor have, you know, work to do on a Monday?
UNDERGROUND OZARKS
We happen to be fans of this unusual site. It opens eyes.
Underground Ozarks also happens to have posted a story we wrote a decade ago about the Acid Tunnel, a largely unknown kicking-back place on the north side of Springfield. News-Leader shooter Bob Linder took the pictures that accompanied the story.
Underground Ozarks has its own gallery of Acid Tunnel snaps that you can find here.
Underground Ozarks also happens to have posted a story we wrote a decade ago about the Acid Tunnel, a largely unknown kicking-back place on the north side of Springfield. News-Leader shooter Bob Linder took the pictures that accompanied the story.
Underground Ozarks has its own gallery of Acid Tunnel snaps that you can find here.
THE ROLE OF RACE IN DOWNTOWN BRAWL
Many leading lights in Springfield now declare they want to be "pro-active" in eliminating any future brawls outside downtown nightclubs. As we noted on Monday, the City of Springfield is busting hump to shut down Traffic, threatening to pull the club's business and liquor licenses.
The club's manager, Sean Kisner, made the media rounds on Monday, claiming "violent" hip-hop music played by an irresponsible DJ was to blame for the "bad apples" starting a brawl.
Fitting for a story about a nightclub, every media outlet in town is dancing around the obvious: the role of race in the violence.
The News-Leader on Tuesday said the club "leaned toward an urban clientele by playing hip-hop and rap." What the hell is that sentence supposed to mean?
The newspaper's editorial is the only place where color is mentioned, and it's unintended:
Club Intensity, on East Sunshine Street, shut down earlier this year after a spate of noise complaints. Prior to Intensity, there was Remington's, the cavernous southside club that saw its share of parking-lot violence (beatings, stabbings, the occasional rundown by a Cadillac).
All three venues had solid followings among black club-goers in Springfield. The clubs played great music and positioned themselves as big-city entertainment. All three were successful.
Two are now history. Traffic isn't far behind.
Despite earlier plans to play a lot of '80s music, Traffic relied on hip-hop because it brought people through the doors. Now, Traffic's manager says the club plans to "pretty much eliminate rap" from the playlist, and there is talk of instituting a dress code and banning "hats, jerseys and baggy clothes." You know -- clothing worn by thugs and gangsters. As if baggy pants and a love for Luda were enough to plummet people into violence.
Rock music lyrics have their own share of violence; the Kaiser Chiefs, after all, predict a riot. And country music wouldn't continue to exist if song characters weren't off doing a little killing (we also happen to know of a few stabbings that took place at the country bars in town; city officials weren't hip-hopping to shut down those places).
So why the smackdown on "urban" clubs?
If city leaders really want to figure out what's going on with club violence, they won't go along with this "blame-the-rap-music" excuse. That's beneath them.
The club's manager, Sean Kisner, made the media rounds on Monday, claiming "violent" hip-hop music played by an irresponsible DJ was to blame for the "bad apples" starting a brawl.
Fitting for a story about a nightclub, every media outlet in town is dancing around the obvious: the role of race in the violence.
The News-Leader on Tuesday said the club "leaned toward an urban clientele by playing hip-hop and rap." What the hell is that sentence supposed to mean?
The newspaper's editorial is the only place where color is mentioned, and it's unintended:
This brawl has given the city and the downtown area a black eye. However, that will fade away. There are many good, positive things going on downtown, and this will just be a blip in its history.
Club Intensity, on East Sunshine Street, shut down earlier this year after a spate of noise complaints. Prior to Intensity, there was Remington's, the cavernous southside club that saw its share of parking-lot violence (beatings, stabbings, the occasional rundown by a Cadillac).
All three venues had solid followings among black club-goers in Springfield. The clubs played great music and positioned themselves as big-city entertainment. All three were successful.
Two are now history. Traffic isn't far behind.
Despite earlier plans to play a lot of '80s music, Traffic relied on hip-hop because it brought people through the doors. Now, Traffic's manager says the club plans to "pretty much eliminate rap" from the playlist, and there is talk of instituting a dress code and banning "hats, jerseys and baggy clothes." You know -- clothing worn by thugs and gangsters. As if baggy pants and a love for Luda were enough to plummet people into violence.
Rock music lyrics have their own share of violence; the Kaiser Chiefs, after all, predict a riot. And country music wouldn't continue to exist if song characters weren't off doing a little killing (we also happen to know of a few stabbings that took place at the country bars in town; city officials weren't hip-hopping to shut down those places).
So why the smackdown on "urban" clubs?
If city leaders really want to figure out what's going on with club violence, they won't go along with this "blame-the-rap-music" excuse. That's beneath them.
'SENIOR COOPERATING WITNESS' IN WHITE HOUSE
Indictments by Wednesday, perhaps? A follow to our earlier blurb on rats in the White House, from the New York Daily News:
At least one source and one reporter who have testified in the probe said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is pursuing Cheney's role in the Valerie Plame affair.
In addition, at least six current and former Cheney staffers - most members of the White House Iraq Group - have testified before the grand jury, including the vice president's top honcho, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, and two top Cheney national security lieutenants.
Cheney's name has come up amid indications Fitzgerald may be edging closer to a blockbuster conspiracy charge - with help from a secret snitch.
"They have got a senior cooperating witness - someone who is giving them all of that," a source who has been questioned in the leak probe told the Daily News yesterday.
Monday, October 17, 2005
RAT IN THE WHITE HOUSE?
Aside from the obvious ones, that is. Monday night, the bloggies were buzzing with word that the New York Daily News will report that someone in the White House has been tattling to the special prosecutor investigating the Valerie Plame leak.
A snitch, ratting out senior administration officials who tried to ruin Plame and her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson. Those with irony-poor blood can appreciate what is happening.
A snitch, ratting out senior administration officials who tried to ruin Plame and her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson. Those with irony-poor blood can appreciate what is happening.
SUPREMES CLEAR WAY FOR MISSOURI ABORTION
Just the latest -- and last -- twist in this case. From The New York Times:
The full court vacated an order that Justice Clarence Thomas had issued late last Friday that prevented a Missouri prison inmate from obtaining an abortion, to which a federal district judge had found she had a constitutional right.
The inmate, identified in court papers only as Jane Roe, was pregnant when she was sent to the women's prison in Vandalia, Mo., on a parole violation and had been trying for seven weeks to obtain an abortion. She is now 17 weeks pregnant. She plans to pay for the procedure herself but, as an inmate, needs the prison to arrange transportation to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, 80 miles away.
Under a policy it adopted last year, the Missouri Department of Corrections will not transport inmates for abortions that it deems not medically necessary. Last Thursday, after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on the inmate's behalf, Judge H. Dean Whipple of Federal District Court in Kansas City ordered the state to provide the abortion. Without access to abortion, the inmate "will suffer irreparable harm," he said.
The state then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in St. Louis, which refused to grant a stay of Judge Whipple's order. The state next turned to Justice Thomas, who has administrative jurisdiction over the Eighth Circuit.
In the appeal, Crawford v. Roe, No. 05A333, Attorney General Jay Nixon acknowledged that a state may not impose an "undue burden" on the right to abortion. But in this case, he said, "it is not the prison that has imposed the burden, but the prisoner's violation of the law that resulted in her incarceration that has imposed the burden." The inmate was jailed for a parole violation.
Justice Thomas gave no reason for granting the stay on Friday night, and the full court, to which he then referred the case, gave no reason for vacating it. Neither he nor any other member of the court indicated a dissent from the order the court issued today.
CITY OF SPRINGFIELD SHUTS DOWN NIGHTCLUB
A weekend disturbance at Traffic, a downtown nightclub, has been answered forcefully by city officials. On Monday, the city announced it is "taking several measures under state and local laws to shut down" Traffic until further notice.
In what the newspaper described as a "brawl," about 50 police officers quelled street disturbances early Saturday outside the nightclub at 220 W. Walnut St.
City officials said the weekend "knife assault" was the third fight in recent weeks involving blades.
“We will not tolerate this type of activity in our downtown or anywhere else in Springfield,” said Mayor Tom Carlson. “I believe the City Council will support taking whatever measures are necessary to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
City officials are shuttering the nightclub on several grounds:
•Liquor control prohibits on-premise sales if there's disorderly conduct.
•The city attorney is accusing nightclub owner Michael Ngo of "repeated violations of Springfield’s nuisance laws, including noise and littering."
•The city's finance department is reviewing the nightclub's business license.
After Club Intensity closed -- mostly due to noise complaints -- its crowd moved to Traffic. Shutting down Traffic won't solve the long-term issue of how to handle drunk people who want to dance.
In what the newspaper described as a "brawl," about 50 police officers quelled street disturbances early Saturday outside the nightclub at 220 W. Walnut St.
City officials said the weekend "knife assault" was the third fight in recent weeks involving blades.
“We will not tolerate this type of activity in our downtown or anywhere else in Springfield,” said Mayor Tom Carlson. “I believe the City Council will support taking whatever measures are necessary to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
City officials are shuttering the nightclub on several grounds:
•Liquor control prohibits on-premise sales if there's disorderly conduct.
•The city attorney is accusing nightclub owner Michael Ngo of "repeated violations of Springfield’s nuisance laws, including noise and littering."
•The city's finance department is reviewing the nightclub's business license.
After Club Intensity closed -- mostly due to noise complaints -- its crowd moved to Traffic. Shutting down Traffic won't solve the long-term issue of how to handle drunk people who want to dance.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
JUDITH MILLER IS NOT A HERO
She is not a zero, either, because that would imply that she has no power and can do no harm. The writer for The New York Times apparently has plenty of influence, and with it she has done much damage to American journalism.
Her first-person piece in the Times is too long, and too short on crucial details. Its hard-news value comes in one graf:
The real news story from the Times doesn't come from Miller, but from her colleagues Don Van Natta, Jr., Adam Liptak and Clifford J. Levy.
The news they break? Miller is no hero, and her "cause" ended in failure.
She went to jail to protect a source who'd already freed himself from the Land of Unnamed Sources. She refused to testify before a grand jury because "a promise of confidentiality once made must be respected, or the journalist will lose all credibility and the public will, in the end, suffer."
After less than three months in jail, Miller lost respect for her promise of confidentiality. But she blames her change of heart on others: "I owed it to myself to see whether or not [Scooter] Libby had had a change of heart, the special prosecutor had had a change of heart," she told the Times.
Neither one did, not really, but Miller agreed to testify anyway -- not once, but twice.
By defying the special prosecutor and the grand jury, Miller made it harder for the Times to cover a story it should have owned. Helping her screw the newsroom: Executive Editor Bill Keller, who amazingly admitted that while he knew Scooter Libby was the Secret Source, he never asked Miller about her conversations with Libby.
Keller's other big sin was in waving off reporters trying to cover a Big Story:
What else to call it?
•Judith Miller was yanked off stories involving "Iraq and weapons issues" because of her pre-war stories about Iraq's mighty and deadly (and, as it turned out, phantom) weapons stockpiles. She admits she "got it totally wrong" but employs a Bushian excuse: "The analysts, the experts and the journalists who covered them - we were all wrong. If your sources are wrong, you are wrong. I did the best job that I could."
•Despite being banned from covering "Iraq and weapons issues," Miller was doing just that when she interviewed Scooter Libby for a story on the search for missing weapons in Iraq.
•Miller says she "made a strong recommendation to my editor" for a story about Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, and how administration officials were talking smack about the diplomat. Miller says she "was told no" by an editor she would not name. The Washington bureau chief says she doesn't know what Miller's talking about.
•Miller's editors asked her if White House officials were trying to disclose Plame's identity. Miller denied it, and now says she had "not been at the receiving end of a concerted effort, a deliberate organized effort to put out information." Breakfast chitchat and phone calls with a bunch of reporters, sure. But a concerted effort? No way.
On Friday, Miller said she has "everything to be proud of and nothing to apologize for." This week she picks up a First Amendment award from the Society of Professional Journalists. It would be wrong to say she earned it.
She says she'll take some time away from the newspaper and might write a book. She says she wants to write about "the same thing I've always covered -- threats to our country." An autobiography, then.
Her first-person piece in the Times is too long, and too short on crucial details. Its hard-news value comes in one graf:
During my testimony on Sept. 30 and Oct. 12, the special counsel, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, asked me whether Mr. Libby had shared classified information with me during our several encounters before Mr. Novak's article. He also asked whether I thought Mr. Libby had tried to shape my testimony through a letter he sent to me in jail last month. And Mr. Fitzgerald asked whether Mr. Cheney had known what his chief aide was doing and saying.
The real news story from the Times doesn't come from Miller, but from her colleagues Don Van Natta, Jr., Adam Liptak and Clifford J. Levy.
The news they break? Miller is no hero, and her "cause" ended in failure.
She went to jail to protect a source who'd already freed himself from the Land of Unnamed Sources. She refused to testify before a grand jury because "a promise of confidentiality once made must be respected, or the journalist will lose all credibility and the public will, in the end, suffer."
After less than three months in jail, Miller lost respect for her promise of confidentiality. But she blames her change of heart on others: "I owed it to myself to see whether or not [Scooter] Libby had had a change of heart, the special prosecutor had had a change of heart," she told the Times.
Neither one did, not really, but Miller agreed to testify anyway -- not once, but twice.
By defying the special prosecutor and the grand jury, Miller made it harder for the Times to cover a story it should have owned. Helping her screw the newsroom: Executive Editor Bill Keller, who amazingly admitted that while he knew Scooter Libby was the Secret Source, he never asked Miller about her conversations with Libby.
Keller's other big sin was in waving off reporters trying to cover a Big Story:
In July, Richard W. Stevenson and other reporters in the Washington bureau wrote an article about the role of Mr. Cheney's senior aides, including Mr. Libby, in the leak case. The article, which did not disclose that Mr. Libby was Ms. Miller's source, was not published.
Mr. Stevenson said he was told by his editors that the article did not break enough new ground. "It was taken pretty clearly among us as a signal that we were cutting too close to the bone, that we were getting into an area that could complicate Judy's situation," he said.
In August, Douglas Jehl and David Johnston, two other Washington reporters, sent a memo to the Washington bureau chief, Mr. Taubman, listing ideas for coverage of the case. Mr. Taubman said Mr. Keller did not want them pursued because of the risk of provoking Mr. Fitzgerald or exposing Mr. Libby while Ms. Miller was in jail.:
What else to call it?
•Judith Miller was yanked off stories involving "Iraq and weapons issues" because of her pre-war stories about Iraq's mighty and deadly (and, as it turned out, phantom) weapons stockpiles. She admits she "got it totally wrong" but employs a Bushian excuse: "The analysts, the experts and the journalists who covered them - we were all wrong. If your sources are wrong, you are wrong. I did the best job that I could."
•Despite being banned from covering "Iraq and weapons issues," Miller was doing just that when she interviewed Scooter Libby for a story on the search for missing weapons in Iraq.
•Miller says she "made a strong recommendation to my editor" for a story about Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, and how administration officials were talking smack about the diplomat. Miller says she "was told no" by an editor she would not name. The Washington bureau chief says she doesn't know what Miller's talking about.
•Miller's editors asked her if White House officials were trying to disclose Plame's identity. Miller denied it, and now says she had "not been at the receiving end of a concerted effort, a deliberate organized effort to put out information." Breakfast chitchat and phone calls with a bunch of reporters, sure. But a concerted effort? No way.
On Friday, Miller said she has "everything to be proud of and nothing to apologize for." This week she picks up a First Amendment award from the Society of Professional Journalists. It would be wrong to say she earned it.
She says she'll take some time away from the newspaper and might write a book. She says she wants to write about "the same thing I've always covered -- threats to our country." An autobiography, then.
FAT MAN KILLED IN TRAILER FIRE
Right here in the Show-Me State. From The Associated Press, this skinny:
Timothy Lee Morris, 45, called 911 from his home when it caught fire Saturday afternoon but couldn't get out by himself, fire officials said. His daughters, ages 8 and 13, summoned neighbors, but they were unable to move him.
"He was in the front room. We tried and tried to yank him out," said neighbor Clinton Turner. "He kept saying, 'Help,' but we couldn't get him out."
Authorities said police and firefighters eventually were able to put Morris on a backboard and slide him out the front door. Morris had several health problems, including breathing complications.
"Timmy probably didn't get burned at all," Battalion Chief John Nelson said. "He probably died from smoke inhalation."
WILL IT BE WILMA?
The National Hurricane Center is keeping especially close tabs on Tropical Depression Twenty-Four. Right now the storm isn't much:
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 35 MPH ... 55 KM/HR ... WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THE DEPRESSION IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A TROPICAL STORM DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. IF IT DOES SO ... IT WILL TIE THE RECORD OF 21 NAMED STORMS SET IN 1933.
HI THERE
Sorry for the brief interruption of CHATTER service.
A couple quick things before we thumbsuck on why The New York Times has gone insane:
•In an update to our earlier report, Clarence Thomas shows off his activist-judge side by refusing to allow a woman to have an abortion. Thomas acted alone in granting a Friday night stay to a federal judge's order that a Missouri prisoner be allowed to have an abortion.
•We once again flog FeedBlitz, the lil service that allows you -- yes, you -- to have CHATTER e-mailed to your box. Comes in handy when The Man has his techies install internet filters at work so you can't browse with complete freedom. What, is The Man afraid you're looking at porn on His Dime? He's probably right to worry. Anyway, click the link over to the right -- the one that says "free subscription," 'cause it is -- and sign yourself up to get CHATTER via e-mail.
See you soon.
A couple quick things before we thumbsuck on why The New York Times has gone insane:
•In an update to our earlier report, Clarence Thomas shows off his activist-judge side by refusing to allow a woman to have an abortion. Thomas acted alone in granting a Friday night stay to a federal judge's order that a Missouri prisoner be allowed to have an abortion.
•We once again flog FeedBlitz, the lil service that allows you -- yes, you -- to have CHATTER e-mailed to your box. Comes in handy when The Man has his techies install internet filters at work so you can't browse with complete freedom. What, is The Man afraid you're looking at porn on His Dime? He's probably right to worry. Anyway, click the link over to the right -- the one that says "free subscription," 'cause it is -- and sign yourself up to get CHATTER via e-mail.
See you soon.
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