SUGGESTION BRIDGE
RE: “Naming Contests Don’t Work and Other Obvious Facts” [Blogtown, Nov 15], in which comedian/columnist Alex Falcone criticizes TriMet’s naming contest for a new car-free bridge.
DEAR MERCURY—By the time I thought up an appropriate name for the new light-rail bridge, I discovered I had missed the deadline. I still wish to offer my idea to call it “The Section 8 Bridge” to commemorate the nearly half-mile-wide crime corridor that inevitably follows each new light-rail line.
J. Morris
THE MERCURY RESPONDS: That’s a stupid fucking name. NEXT!
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LOOK, ANOTHER IDIOT
RE: Savage Love columnist Dan Savage, who is pretty famous for his inclusive and sex-positive activism… don’t just take it from us.
DEAR MERCURY—Why does the generally enjoyable Mercury publish Dan Savage? This is a guy who regularly makes bigoted, malicious remarks about bi people, trans people, and asexual people. Maybe Savage was considered progressive years ago, but I can’t imagine why the Mercury makes a practice of gracing its pages with his Grade-A douchebaggery.
Steve D
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FEED ME, BUZZFEED
RE: “Invoicing the Internet” [Arts, Nov 27], on the struggles between artists and BuzzFeed, the aggregate website that features their work.
I’ve had to go to battle with BuzzFeed over my photographs. They are positively recalcitrant. I wish they could take their prodigious talent and work on some way to profit-share with content creators.
posted by Mick Orlosky
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HOLMIES
RE: “Don’t Be a Dick, INTERNET” [Blogtown, Dec 6], in which columnist/comedian Barbara Holm’s feminism-focused coverage continues to cause commenter pandemonium.
How did I not notice that this is a humorous column? I don’t complain about it or about you. But… now I feel sort of dumb for not noticing these jokes you speak of. Maybe you can change the tag on the post from “sexual politics” to something else (or just add “humor” to it).
posted by ROM
Your bracing, lighthearted commentary on gender inequality never ceases to warm my heart/threaten the deeply ingrained socioeconomic advantages of my external genitals and oafish physique. Your refusal to give into the spiteful shit-slinging of doucheholes, asswagons, fuckhorses, and general internet bigots is invigorating and inspiring.
posted by Patrick Quinn
Some people don’t like your blog here because you take overly simplified stances on topics that are very near and dear, and your wishy-washy approach, especially as someone who hasn’t firsthand experienced some of the things you’ve covered, makes people feel like you’re writing about it to glorify yourself and bad puns. A weekly column is hard work, surely, but there’s a level of care that must be taken, out of respect to yourself and others, namely those you’re attempting to speak for. I’ve seen you perform, and it [always] makes me laugh. Please don’t discount everyone who’s not a fan of this column as a misogynist asshole. There are folks who do just hate feminists. But those who dislike this column seem to have a problem with you as a writer, not you as a feminist.
posted by littlefemmylezzie
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NO EXCUSE
RE: “The $2.3 Million Mistake” [Feature, Dec 4], examining the actions that led up to a Portland police officer accidentally shooting someone with live shotgun rounds.
It really shouldn’t matter whether [Dane] Reister was the best cop in the world or a disgrace prior to this; some mistakes are so egregious that they deserve termination entirely on their own merits. This mistake was not one born in the heat of the moment, but one made in the calm of a parking garage before a shift. Hindsight should absolutely be used to judge the officer’s actions in this case.
posted by bridger
I still do not understand why a beanbag round could not be so different that it wouldn’t load in a normal shotgun. Common sense should tell you that. Just a different color is not enough differentiation.
posted by ujfoyt
NOW THERE’S a $2.3 million idea, ujfoyt! Too bad nobody thought of that sooner. You still get the letter of the week, though, including two free tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, where painful mistakes are made onscreen on an hourly basis.
Sorry, I only read the print edition, what’s this about a kerfuffle in “Blogtown”?
ujfoyt, generally the shotgun itself is visibly marked either with orange, yellow or sometimes green markings to distinguish it as a dedicated non lethal weapon to be loaded only as such. Note that these rounds can cause fatalities however. It is a violation of Police Procedures to carry lethal rounds while carrying a less than lethal weapon. So it is obviously unclear how this happened. Disclaimer: I am not nor have I been a Police Officer.
As to your question, it is a good one. I would think perhaps this is due to not wanting or being unable to fund the design of a different weapon to employ the munition. Again, yours is a very valid question
-The Showstopper-
“I would think perhaps this is due to not wanting or being unable to fund the design of a different weapon to employ the munition.”
Yeah, because the firarms industry is REALLY tight on cash these days. Disclaimer: I am not nor have I “ever” been a Police Officer.
It is not that the money is not available, I think Police Departments do not deem this necessary. I disagree personally. You also missed the most relevant point, in that a violation of safety procedures occurred
I don’t think I missed the point at all, I’m just skeptical that the officer involved unintentionally loaded the weapon in that manner. PPD violates safety procedures on a pretty regular basis in case you haven’t been paying attention. You’re quite right in that they most likely do not deem it necessary, thus the enormous need for more independent oversight across the board.
Owch, “Look, Another Idiot”? What’s wrong, Mercury, don’t like someone criticizing the vile, small minded trash you publish from Savage despite your “progressive” veneer? For anyone curious about why Savage is such an ignorant prick, some of his most winning lines can be found at http://beyoungandshutup.com/2013/12/04/capital-d-for-douchebag-dan-savage/
@The Showstopper – The firearm industry? No, it’s the people that buy the firearms. Why spring for an entirely new shotgun that can only fire beanbags, when you can just buy beanbag rounds that fit into your current shotguns? It’s the police departments trying to save money, not the firearm industry.