NOT A CITY IN CHINA
RE: Our ongoing coverage of the Portland Police Bureau, weekly in News and daily on blogtown.portlandmercury.com.
DEAR MERCURY—I keep hearing that the Portland police are doing better regarding officer-related incidents and crime rates. Well, why doesn't someone look into the way Portland police have changed the way in which crime is reported, which discourages people from bothering to report any crime, and how much time are they really spending on property crimes, as an example? Then there is the case of misconduct. It is so rare that any officer is actually dealt with equal to the misconduct alleged, proven or not. I think people will continue to be frustrated [because] we have no power to actually break this cycle. What will be [the] tipping point?
-Richard
STARS AND BARS
RE: "Sobering Up" [News, May 17], regarding a myriad of setbacks in the effort to institute a ban on the sale of malt liquor and fortified wine in certain parts of downtown.
I am relieved to know that this ban won't affect the purchase of my 6.4 percent Obsidian Stout in the downtown area. Nor will this ban affect my free-wheelin' party-going as I cruise the various bars and clubs that serve liquor that is... what percentage, again? So, this ban is an attempt to do what? Scourge homeless people from the area for the sake of "tourists"? For, surely any and all monies spent supporting this stupid bill could have been better spent on, I don't know, a new shelter? But, this is where the money goes. Because who cares about helping or curing the lost and the broken when business and money is on the line. Welcome to America, folks.
-posted by kalikill
RE: "I'll Cry if I Want To" [News, May 17], our election night coverage including the parties of all three major contenders for Portland mayor, now narrowed down to a runoff between Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith, with Eileen Brady out of the running.
The vote tally after the early returns shows the spread between Hales and Smith to have narrowed to only 4.55 percent, which is pretty much insignificant since there will be much higher participation in the November election.
-posted by Kathleen O'Brien
Oh, I see. The email chain went around to Smith supporters to go comment on the stories and point that out. Good coordinated effort, everyone. Seriously, can we just move the general up so we don't have to put up with this anymore?
-posted by Drunk & Write
"As of press time, the writing was on the wall. But Brady was among a handful of candidates who proved that, in this town, in this state, raising the most money is rarely a sure path to victory." I would take this to mean that the Merc has changed its tune on so-called 'Voter-Owned Elections' then? Example after example should have illustrated the lack of need for it by now.
-posted by frankieb
RE: "Getting Canned" [Savage Love, May 17], regarding a letter writer worried that his office bathroom masturbation habit is on the wrong side of the law.
If spanking it in the confines of a water closet in an office building is wrong, I don't wanna be right. Sometimes you just have to get it out of your system so you can focus on what you're being paid to do.
-posted by nibbler83
RE: "Learning Curves and Rhyming Giants" [Music, May 17], previewing a performance by all-female band What Hearts.
Can the Merc ever do a feature on a band that ISN'T Doug Fir friendly or right-away hipster chic?
-posted by DamosA
The answer to your query, DamosA, is "no." The Mercury simply isn't capable of covering bands that don't fit that description, because the Mercury is solidly a publication of the NOW, and of the HAPPENING. And things that are HAPPENING and NOW are things like precious-looking white girls. Personally, I don't mind some decent indie-pop now and again, but I will be very glad when this fascination with anything and everything folk-inspired dies a gruesome fucking death.
-posted by Snagglepuss
YOU MIGHT HAVE a long wait ahead of you, Snagglepuss, so we're giving you two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, where you will have to make an educated guess as to which film's soundtrack was least inspired by folk music—good luck with that!
