Police Shootings

12/1/09

Seattle—For two days Washington police were in a state of fear and uncertainty after the slaying of four Lakewood Police officers. But they can rest easier now knowing that the suspect in the case, 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons, has been shot dead by a lone Seattle patrolman. Last Sunday morning, Clemmons entered the Forza coffee shop in Parkland and shot four police officers. Clemmons then vacated the area and the police began their manhunt. Clemmons managed to avoid capture for so long thanks to the help of his family and friends who provided him with shelter, money, and transportation. But Clemmons was finally found early this morning when a Seattle Police officer came across a stolen car. While running information on the car’s plates the officer noticed and recognized Clemmons approaching his car. Clemmons then ran from the scene, the officer ordered him stop, he did not, and the officer opened fire. Clemmons was pronounced dead on the scene.




Mugshot of Clemmons.


While the community mourns this latest tragedy we shouldn’t forget the other recent assaults against Police in Washington state. This past October 22nd, the same day as a Police Brutality protest in downtown Seattle, four Seattle Police cars were torched in the city’s maintenance yard. October 31st, Halloween Night, Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed while sitting in his patrol car at traffic stop. The man suspected of shooting Officer Brenton, 31-year-old Christopher Monfort, was eventually arrested and wounded by police in a shootout outside Monfort’s home. Monfort is also believed to be involved in the police car fires, after similar items found at the scene were found in his home.

Not everyone agrees with or likes the police. But the fact remains that their primary duty is to protect and serve the community. There are officers and departments that abuse their power, and we may feel the need to stand up. However there is never a justifiable reason for killing a police officer. You’re only meeting violence with more violence. Until more people work to make positive changes, we’ll have to live in a world where were afraid of those who sworn to protect us and where they have reason to fear us.

October 22nd Protest to End Police Brutality

On October 22nd in downtown Seattle, protesters gathered to participate in the 14th annual “National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality”. The protest took place in over 20 cities across the country, participants in Seattle’s protest gathered at five p.m. in Occidental Park in the Pioneer Square district. The protest started with a brief statement from rally organizer and speaker, Rave Parks. Parks addressed what the protest was all about and commented on the police vehicle that had been set on fire the same morning. He assured listeners that his group had nothing to do with it and, “We regard such acts as harmful because they can provide a pretext for police agencies to increase attempts to repress the mass political movement required to stop police brutality," said Parks.


After the introduction Rave introduced a few speakers before the march began. The first of which was fellow organizer Curtis Johnson. Johnson was there to discuss all the recent and well-known and less-known cases of police brutality. He gave emphasis to cases like that of Malika Calhoun, the 15-year-old girl who was beaten on camera by Seattle Police last November. He also encouraged people to submit their stories of police brutality to Revolution newspaper , a newspaper representing the communist party in the USA.













The next speaker was a woman referred to as Anita, representing the Nickelsville homeless community. She spoke about how the homeless are criminalized by police when often their only crimes are poverty and mental illness. She was against efforts to create anti-panhandling laws, which she said would make it illegal for citizens to help each other. She told listeners that, “we need to change the system by changing the way we treat each other,” and that the housed and homeless need to work together to protect and care for each other.


The final speaker was a local poet and activist who went by the name Oscar. He read a recently written poem about police brutality, racial discrimination, and his own experience with the issues.


Around 5:30 p.m. organizers began the march and almost ran into a problem. In order to march downtown the group needed to have at least 50 people participating. The crowd was grouped into lines and told to count off. It was a bit unorganized but the crowd had somewhere in the area of 53 people. The march started in Occidental Park and continued up to the King County Courthouse, a symbolic location to march past. Rave Parks claimed that the courthouse is, “a symbol of injustice” and paused the march for a few moments so that anyone entering or inside the courthouse would see and hear the march. As the march continued through the streets of downtown, organizers on megaphones lead the group in various chants. Such as, “When the people of the world are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and, “No more stolen lives! No more stolen lives!”. There was one chant that caused a little confusion and some discomfort in nearby police. The chant was supposed to go, “No justice, no peace, no killer police!” but the crowd started chanting, “No justice, no peace, kill the police!” but Rave Parks was quick to correct the crowd and remind them that the protest was a peaceful one.












Those participating in the march wore black to show their support. There was quite a diverse group of people, all with their own reasons for attending the rally.



A young woman who wished only to go by Khadyja came to the event because she thinks that the police force is the most corrupted organization on the planet. “I’ve known many police officers in my life. For many years growing up I lived with one. But I’ve never known one who didn’t participate in some kind of excessive force. It’s the only way to get promoted, is to brutalize people.”


73-year-old Barbra Thominson is “just plain tired of police brutality”. She says she’s never been the victim of it herself, but that she’s known many people who have and has been witness to it many times. She marches today because of a past incident where she didn’t speak up against excessive force. She recommends that people, “not remain silent. Talk nicely and intelligently and stand up to people. Don’t get angry, be nice.”


Greg Gibson, 30, was out marching because he feels that even though it isn’t the greatest issue facing our country. It’s still an important one, but he feels that it isn’t out in common conversation enough. “It’s an issue that people are aware of but rarely see firsthand. That’s why I’m marching today.”



A man going by the name of Marty was there because the issue has affected him and friends many times. A close friend of rally organizer Rave Parks, Marty was pleased with the crowd’s enthusiasm, but he was a bit disappointed with the overall turnout. He wished that the event had been better publicized and that others saw police brutality as a solvable issue. “50 people is a big number and people will notice us, but they’ll quickly forget it. 50 is ignorable but 300 wouldn’t be, if we had around 300 people then others would really pay attention and start thinking about the issue.” Marty commented.




The march went from Pioneer Square to 4th and Lenora Street in downtown, just outside the Cinerama Theater. From there the march turned around and kept going to the pavilion outside the West Lake Mall between 4th and Pine Street. There Rave Parks gave one last speech about Police Brutality and encouraged people to join the “Coalition to Stop Police Brutality” and learn more about them by attending meetings at Revolution Books located at 89 s Washington Street in Seattle’s Pioneer Square.

Only at the Farmers Market.

Ever open your refrigerator only to find that your sick of everything in it? You go to the grocery store but everything bores you; you're sick of the same old selection. If only there were somewhere you could go for fresh and unique food. Well you should try the University District's Farmers Market, open Saturdays year round at the corner of NE 50th & University Way NE.

There you'll find not only fresh local produce grown organically by Washington farmers, but a plethora of other food items. Some of which are only available at the market itself and nowhere else. You'll also find the produce at prices lower than grocery stores like QFC. Last year a group of Economic students from Seattle University conducted a study where they learned that on average prices at the farmers market were 86% of prices at QFC. Food for thought in this harsh economic climate. The information booth at the market holds specific numbers and figures concerning the study, available to those interested in comparing prices.


So what kind of unique items will you find? At the Olsen Farms booth, you'll find grass fed beef and lamb fresh from the farm. And 23 varieties of dry land potatoes to choose from for your side dish. You're also getting the farmer's direct answers to any questions you might have. Angela, who runs the booth is also one of the main farmer's for Olsen Farms.
http://www.olsenfarms.com/


A regular patron of the farmers market and Olsen Farms booth, Pierre Mackag, loves coming to the booth because it's the only place he can buy small amounts of beef and lamb kidney, which he uses to make Steak and Kidney Pie. "Other places, like butcher shops, will only let you buy kidney in very large amounts. If they let you buy it at all. But here I can get as much or as little as I want."
Steak and Kidney Pie may not be right up your ally. But how do you feel about seafood? The Taylor Shellfish Farms booth is run by Shaun, and he's eager to tell you about the unique seafood items he has available. Such as their Totten Inlet Virginica Oysters, which were voted best oysters on the East Coast by Severe Magazine last year (they sell them to the East Coast). They're also the only place to find fresh 'dry packed' shucked scallops. As far as they know, nowhere else sells dry packed shucked scallops. They also carry Mediterranean Mussels, another hard to find delicacy.
http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com/


And now a little something for the adults. If you've been interested in trying an all natural Wine or perhaps an uncarbonated hard cider, you might want to stop by the Rockridge Orchards and Cidery booth run by a man named Wade. Wade will tell you about his fine selection of all natural wines made purely from juice. He'll brag about the Tayberry wine, which he boasts is only available at his booth, and in Scotland, no one else in the country produces it. The Tayberry has a rich blackberry flavor, with a tart raspberry aftertaste. He also sells two varieties of delicious hard cider, regular apple and raspberry apple, which are all natural and uncarbonated.
http://rockridgeorchards.com/default.aspx




What I've told you about here is only a preview of the unique and appetizing items you'll find at the U-District Farmers Market. Hopefully I've peaked your interest into looking into a new source for fresh meat, produce, seafood, and drinks. Even if you don't see anything here that you like, you're guaranteed to find something you'll love if you check out the market yourself. But even if you don't care for the unique items, we can all agree that lower prices are appetizing enough to shop at the Farmers Market.

To learn more about the U-District market visit their website: http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/u_district

If you're too far away from the U-District, you can visit the Farmers Market website to find other markets in other neighborhoods:
http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/

Sex, lies, and Late Night TV.

10/5/09

Ever since Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky was exposed to the public in 1998, America has become accustom to sensational sex scandals with politicians. We’ve long been desensitized to the fact that politicians are often corrupt and involved in scandal. So it’s usually the details and key players within the scandals that interest us. Just how big of a politician was involved, what exactly did they do, was tax-payer money used to fund the scandal, was there a cover up, and what about wives and families? We may not always be surprised when a politician admits to wrong doing, but once they do the media and public are often quick to criticize and condemn them for their actions. We hold strong standards to politicians. They’re supposed to be making important decisions that will benefit the entire nation so when they commit an offense that is widely frowned upon their integrity is compromised and we want them out of office. When it comes to offenses like extramarital affairs which aren’t exactly illegal in any way, the offense is still treated as if it were illegal given the politicians high standing. But will America impose these same standards on a comedian? We may soon find out as the scandal involving late night talk show host David Letterman continues to unfold.

Last Thursday, on his Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Dave told his audience about an extortion case he had recently become the victim of. Former 48 Hours producer Robert Halderman is accused of trying to blackmail Letterman, threatening to release details about Letterman’s affairs with women that have worked on his show in the form of a novel and screenplay. Halderman who had been living with one of Letterman’s former assistants discovered the details of their affair by reading her diary. Letterman sought the help of a Manhattan district attorney’s office and the investigation ended on Thursday when a fake check for $2 million was issued to Halderman and he was arrested.

When one thinks of sex scandals in politics naturally the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal will come to mind as one the most widely covered and discussed instances. But more recently two particular scandals dominated the news when they first hit the press. The first of which would be the scandal involving former North Carolina Senator and 2004 Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards . In October of 2007 The National Enquirer began reporting allegations that Edwards was having an affair with a former campaign worker Rielle Hunter. At first the story was given very little coverage as The National Enquirer isn’t always thought of as the most reliable news source. But on August 8, 2008 in an interview with ABC News Edwards admitted that he had indeed had an affair with the woman, but he continued to deny that he was the father of Hunter’s son. The incident has had a tremendous effect on Edwards’ political career. Some speculated that Edwards was one of the considerations for Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008, but that after the scandal he was cut out of consideration. Edwards has since dropped out of the public light. When Edwards apologized some pointed out the possibility that his wife was unable to forgive him when she wasn’t present during his apology, as most politicians’ wives stand by them during times of scandal. Edward’s wife was not present, however he claims that that was on his request. Regardless of if his wife forgave him, it’s safe to say that the American people will not for quite some time.

Another recent political sex scandal took the media by storm recently. The scandal involving South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford received quite a lot of attention not simply because it involved a major politician and a sex scandal, but rather from the way it unfolded. In June of 2009 the whereabouts of Mark Sanford were unknown by both his staff and family for six days, an unheard of amount of time for a Governor to be off the grid. He finally returned to the sates after hearing from his staff that his disappearance had gained quit a lot of media attention. When he returned he called a press conference where he admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife with a woman in Argentina. Nothing new there but one aspect of the scandal that was new to everyone was the way Sanford defended himself. He tried to portray his affair as a romantic love story, rather than just a sleazy affair. He told reporters that he had meet the woman sometime in 2001 and they started off "very innocently" but that it developed into a romantic situation about a year before the time of the scandal. Edwards also made statements like he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate." He also described the affair as a "hopelessly impossible situation of love.". The other strange thing about Mark Sanford is that he has still refused to step down from his position as Governor like many have and would when in his situation. "Backroom political maneuvering may keep him in office another 18 months, but everyone knows his governorship, and likely any political future, is over," opined Dr. Benjamin Ladner in The State on July 2, 2009. It also seems that Sanford’s marriage may also be in danger of ending. Unlike most politicians’ wives who stand by their men in tough times it has been reported that Sanford’s wife and children moved out of the Governor’s mansion on August 7, 2009 leaving him behind.

Several months ago David Letterman was involved in a much smaller scandal, more of feud between him and former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. The feud was started when Letterman made some crude jokes about Palin’s daughter. Palin fired back at Letterman on the grounds that it was not okay to make sexual jokes about young girls. Often Letterman’s jokes were along the lines of calling Palin “a slutty flight attendant” and others involving her daughter being “knocked up” by Alex Rodriguez. Letterman later apologized to Palin’s family but has since still made a target of Sarah Palin herself.

Now that we know that Dave himself has been involved in extramarital affairs, can we call him a hypocrite for having made Top 10 jokes about Sanford’s similar snafu and Palin’s daughter? Will there be a backlash from his fans demanding that he no longer joke about other people’s affairs give that he is now guilty one of himself? The answer is most likely, no. Dave will not be held to the same standard as politicians, not only because he isn’t one, but because he’s the exact opposite, a comedian. It’s the man’s job to poke fun at what’s in the news and to make us laugh, he isn’t entrusted with important decisions and isn’t considered a role model to young children. While most politicians have to make the sacrifice of having their personal lives become a part of their professional lives, most comedians become regular people when they exit the stage and are entitled to their own lives and privacy. We have to invade the life of someone like Mark Sanford because being a politician he may have used tax-payer money to fund his affair, which is illegal and a major concern to the American public. While a comedian like Dave has no obligation to tax-payers and no control over public money and affairs.

Another factor that will most likely lead to Letterman being forgiven is the way in which his scandal unfolded and the way he handled it. Even though Dave has done some questionable things he’s still a victim in this case. Robert Halderman tried to blackmail Dave and thus Letterman has become a victim that most people will want to sympathize with. We should also consider that there was no attempted cover up. We heard no rumors in the weeks leading to Letterman’s apology and Dave never denied any wrong doing. When we first heard about the scandal, we got it straight from Dave who may have been a bit too jocular when discussing his affair, but still had the guts to explain himself to his audience. Some criticized Dave for failing to mention his wife during his original apology last Thursday night, but Letterman included his wife’s feelings in another apology this last Monday and also apologized to his staff. For the foreseeable future David Letterman may need to watch what he says in regard to anyone else’s sexual indiscretions, now that he can be accused of hypocrisy. But it’s also likely that David won’t have to fear any kind of long-term reprisal or backlash from the American people. We may not be ready to forgive a politician who we gave our trust to, but when it comes to a late-night talk show hosts we’re likely to forgive and forget on one condition: they make us laugh about something else.