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Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Hi! I am from Missouri, but I recently got arrested when I went to Tennessee, even with a clean record, (not even a speeding ticket), being an honor role student at a University in Springfield, and being 47 years old... it didn't prevent me from getting arrested in your state. Are your For-Profit Prisons raking in so much money that it's profitable to arrest innocent people, now? Does anyone else see a conflict of interest in this process? My crime? Oh, I had ONE prescription pill out of the prescription bottle, car search, cops found it in the back of the car, in an old first aid kit....Looks like "INTENT" to me!!! We have the same law in Missouri, I found out...but our police see it for what it is...CIRCUMSTANTIAL BS.... and must see AMPLE proof of "ILLEGALITY" before arresting a person for such a trivial thing. I WONDER why we have 1:100 people in prison in AMERICA... and how many ARE IN TENNESSEE? I PUBLICLY SHAME your 'justice' system. Yes, thank you, after hiring an attorney, my case was dismissed and expunged. SORRY YOUR PRISONS COULDN'T MAKE MORE OFF MY ARREST. CHANGE YOUR LAWS. (Unless you like 'entrapping' innocent people and trying to make us "FELONS", which is my personal belief about your 'justice' system....
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Mr. Yahya Merchant says that Islam is tolerant towards Christians and Jews. My question to him is why then have Christians and Jews been persecuted in Islamic countries to the point that Egypt which was a Christian country now has only 10% Christians and why have Coptic churches been fire bombed and burned? (http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Attacks-against-Coptic-churches,-part-of-a-plan-to-expel-Egypt%E2%80%99s-Christians-22828.html )
Why have the Christian populations which used to be a majority in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and other middle eastern countries dropped to a miniscule of their former numbers? Why have Copts and Eastern Orthodox fled to western countries?
Sharia law which is based on the Islamic trilogy of the Quran, Sira and Hadith (the sayings and deeds of Mohammed) and its ancillary the Pact of Umar are the reason.
Mr. Merchant engages in the deceit of taqiyya when he says sharia law protects kafirs (non-Muslims) from being subject to its laws. In fact, in sharia law, a kafir is certainly protected from being a full citizen in the ummah or nation of Islam. In sharia law, a kafir is not permitted to hold governmental office, is subject to discrimination in courts of law, cannot criticize Mohammed or proselytize Muslims and is subject to the jizya 'protection' tax.
The non-Muslim is called a dhimmi and has a place in sharia law as a second class citizens. Not to mention the kafir is fair game for violent jihad. This is political Islam, for Islam is an ideology that has a culture, a religion and a political system. Many Islamic countries do not implement full sharia law but the ones closest to full implementation are Pakistan and Saudi Arabia where there are stonings for adultery, honor killings, discrimination toward women in the court of law, where it is legal for a husband to beat his wife and have up to four wives.
And did I mention that in sharia courts, kafirs aren't allowed to testify against Muslims? Yes, as Mr. Merchant writes, the Christians and Jews (who are left in Islamic countries) can have their own courts only for domestic disputes.
And last but not least, Mr. Merchant fails to mention that sharia law (considered perfect as it comes from Allah and is not a man-made) is un-Constitutional since it is religious as well as political. Islam is a theocracy. And if you think those right-winger Evangelical Christians are trying to rule over you and take your freedoms away, take a closer look at the history of Islam and their success of conquering and colonizing other civilizations.
Joan Copeland, Nashville
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
The voter photo ID is not a proposed law like some seem to think.
It has already passed and takes affect for the next election. Forget
about rescinding it, but think about taking your elderly parent,
grandparent, or transportation needing neighbor to the Dept of
Safety to get what will be required! Enough gripping about this already.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
"We need a photo ID to drive a car (and we are required to purchase car insurance as well), purchase alcohol, enter a nightclub, open a bank account, cash a check, pay with a check in person, open a post office box, apply for a job, get on an airplane, and many other things I have neglected to name...."
And if the same forms of ID acceptable to do those things were also acceptable forms of ID to vote under Tennessee's new law (like, for instance, student IDs), then you might have a point. But they're not. So you don't.
Furthermore, next time Rebecca Bynum tries to buy a six pack of beer at Kroger why doesn't she ask the cashier to check the store's rolls of all Davidson County residents who are of legal age to buy alcohol. Oh wait, there isn't such a thing. But you know what, you DO have to register to vote and such lists DO exist when you show up to vote. Amazing. Rebecca must not vote much.
Rebecca is making the typical conservative straw man argument. Voting is nothing at all like boarding an airplane, buying a car, opening a post office box, etc. The reasons ID is required in some of the instances Rebecca mentions is to check one's age; in others, it's to check one's residency. Not all of these things are the same. One already has to register to vote, provide a valid social security number, and show you reside in the precinct in which you're voting. The only reason a photo ID is now required to vote is because Republicans in the Tennessee legislature know that when people vote, Democrats win. This is purely political, we all know it.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Ross, I made fun of Hilary's conspiracy statement at the time. Turns out she was right.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Roc,
"Who the hell cares what happened over 40yrs. ago?"
For starters:
Some number of parasitic asbestos lawyers.
The Hollywood film industry which doesn't believe that the South has changed since 1963 which is why the vast majority of movies about the South are set before then.
People buying Chinese bonds from the days of Pu Yi and Sun Yat Sen.
Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Daughters of the American Revolution.
Older Germans who speak with a Spanish accent.
Just saying.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
To: Duane...and your point is? Bill Clinton was a known draft dodger and was POTUS. A whole lot bigger than Nugent! Who the hell cares what happened over 40yrs. ago?
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Re: Embrace Jefferson not Marx:
I just wanted to point out that concept of seperation of church and state by Thomas Jefferson was more to keep the church out of government than the other way around.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Concerning a past article blasting Christians over the Islamic Mosque debate, and
concerning the Islamic comedian coming to middle Tennessee with hopes of breaking the ice over the Mosque debate in Murfreesboro, TN I will have to say that I feel that the camp opposing the building of the Mosque will only meet his attempts at humor with feelings of being mocked and further ostracized from main stream society’s current trends of political viewpoints.
The attempts to warm Americans up to the idea of having a Mosque located in their locality after their awakened awareness to world wide terrorist attacks from Jihadists, will be futile. Americans are in fear of their legal rights to debate religious issues, and other religions and their writings, will be censored by hate speech laws that have been instilled in Europe and across the globe, and have been written into United Nations hate crimes legislation and “anti blaspheming” laws. These laws have entitled the European nations to feel the legal right to arrest anyone that publicly, or privately, speak freely on their opinions concerning Islam, and other religions such as Christianity’s Romans Chapter One (which identifies homosexuality as sin), for hate speech law violations in that free speech of religious viewpoints have been censored in their countries. The legal right to debate the issues, and debate religious beliefs, are censored in Europe in that they have no law such as the separation of church and state in which keeps the state out of their churches. In the United States we have had attempts to censor the church’s free speech in such laws as Obama and Pelosi’s hate crimes legislation attempting to make Romans Chapter One, and other scriptures pointing out that homosexuality is sin, now to be a hate crime under the hate speech laws. This of course will be overturned in the Supreme Court, and arguable was already overturned during the Phelp’s hearings. The state has to stay out of the church’s teachings, and can not censor debate over religious or political issues. This being the case, Islam is protected under that same law, in that they can not have their beliefs censored out by the state either. The state has to stay out of their religious teachings, and not impede their freedom of religious worship either.
In order to cast out the fear of Islam in the American hearts, they need to remind America that we are not a nation given over to Marxism which would throw out the separation of church and state that keeps the state out of the church and the church’s teachings, and we are not so liberal that we want Marxist censorship of those that we oppose, as if we take away their legal rights today they will take away our legal rights tomorrow..
Americans need to keep freedom straight across the board, and we can do this by seeing the example of Karl Marx style censorship of the Europeans as the pitfall that it is. Our founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson supported the right of the individual, as opposed to Karl Marx’s collective good. Marxist collectivism wants censorship in order to keep from offending someone, and we Americans want our constitutional civil rights to speak and believe openly and freely what we will without fear of censorship as individual personal freedoms. Americans want to keep the legal rights to debate all issues, political or religious, left in our constitution.
Our Supreme Court has upheld this right, showing the Phelp’s case that just because some group or person may find the statements made offensive, they are expected to practice tolerance of those that they oppose as the freedom to debate the issues still stands! This case has a “dog in this fight” in that just as liberals can not censor religious groups speaking out that they disagree with, the Islamic community can not be censored out, and the Christians can not be censored out by taking away their legal rights to debate other religions they feel come into conflict with concerning the Bible’s viewpoints and writings from other religions. Christians need to be reminded that they can feel safe that the state can not enforce Islam here in America as, nor Sharia law, religious beliefs have to stay out of government in our separation of church and state, and that no censorship can never come into the church in attempts end their legal rights to speak out about their beliefs, and their legal rights to debate other religions, as the hate speech laws can not hold water in the light of our constitution making sure that the state has to stay out of our church’s teachings and rights to debate the issues.
This belief in what Thomas Jefferson referred to as the rights of the individual, which opposed Karl Marx’s collective good collectivism that gave rights to the state to take personal choices in beliefs away from the citizens, needs to be a teaching that we pass on to our children, and to their children, in ensure that we do not fall into the traps of censorship Europe has now fallen into.
Carrie Scoggins
head of the Libertarian party
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
QUESTION to all advertisers in the Scene: Why are there always so many left-over copies of Scene editions which do not contain the New York Times crossword puzzle? Hmm? 'Caveat Vendere'!!!
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Food fight-Competition?
When Lockeland Springs School needed salads, or Meigs Magnet wanted pizzas (both for fund-raisers), who stepped up to the plate? Area restaurateurs. People who've worked hard to overcome the monetary, safety and other barriers that becoming a restaurateur entails. Sometimes as donations, sometimes at cost, we give back to the community. We hire local, we hang local art. It is, after all, our community. We do not, at the end of the day, start the engines and drive away, leaving a cloud of dust and a hearty (or should I say "Hefty") pile of trash in our wake.
When a guy buys a junk van, outfits it with a stove and some colorful lettering, then pulls up to a corner (illegally, i might add) and begins selling food on your public ways, do you think he has bought insurance in case you get sick from his food? Do you think he hires local (yeah, right!)? Do you think he declares and pays all the sales taxes he charges you? (In a 100% cash business, if you think he does, your as naive as Derek Schmidt is for thinking that unwanted competition is the reason local merchants aren't fond of food trucks hanging about. Few merchants anywhere are afraid of legitimate competition on a level playing field. The key words here being legitimate and level.) Once he's done taking your money, and he turns the ignition key and turns the corner, do you think he cares that you'll be paying the city to pick up all the trash that has been left behind on the city streets? (Excepting of course that which area merchants and residents must pick up off their property.)
These are but a few of the concerns that deep thinkers like Mr. Schmidt have neglected to include in their rants.
Finally, when it comes to the food quality in East Nashville restaurants (frankly, I suspect Mr. Schmidt's palette, as well as his thought process, are somewhat short of sophisticated. I mean, what could go wrong with letting the food trucks take over?), while I can't speak for others, I can say for myself and my establishment, I believe I am unurpassed in this, or any city.
Paul Koumanelis
Pizzereal
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
I agree that this was not in self defense and anyone with a brain could see through that BS...his hands were clasped together, HOW could he reach for something? What was she doing with a gun in the first place AND why was she behind him? Fact is, he was sleeping and she knew he alot of nice things in his house and the only way to get them was kill him. It's not bad enough to kill someone but then you still their money and their truck, then you're STUPID enough to call police and tell them that you think someone is dead and give the location. Funny thing is, they were able to track her because of her calling. Johnny was a great guy. He never hurt anyone and surely would never hurt a child/teenager. He should have had a voice even if it was through his family and friends. I'm not sure justice was served...life in prison...maybe she needs a bullet to the back of the head like he got. She didn't care he had a small child that would be without a father. She didn't care that he had friends and family that would mourn over the loss of his life. Did she care that his father died 2 weeks after he did? Probably not because she is heartless and I don't care how she brought up. You either make your life better regardless of the hand you are dealt or you wind up doing stupid crimes like she did even after she killed him.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Liam's comments are interesting. I would love to hear more elaboration on the Film-Com / Film-Con event as I think his questioning of that event (and in that it's creator Andy Van Roon) is legitimate. That even has been going on for several years now and I would challenge someone involved in that event to provide a list of locally produced films/shows/media that has come out of that a winner.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Ok. So Liam, as the "fearless leader" of AFFT, I must ask, "What have YOU done for US lately?
If you had been interested enough to ASK me, I would have gladly been quite clear about the reasons we didn't disclose the details of our bill at the Belcourt meeting. Once the bill was sponsored and jacketed in both the House & the Senate, we held TWO online meetings for everyone in the State so we could open the floor to questions. We broadcast those opportunities as widely as we knew how. Did YOU attend? Did YOU volunteer to study the bill, attend several advocacy training classes, and give your time to advocate/educate at the Legislature as others did? Did YOU contribute to the AFFT- PAC so that we, as an industry, could contribute to candidates that would support our efforts? Do you actually KNOW anything about AFFT and what we HAVE accomplished in 3 short years? The Georgia Production Partnership (an organization like AFFT) worked for 10 years before they helped pass the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act in 2008.
It's not my place to speak for FilmNashville or any other organization offering opportunities to folks in our industry, but I must again ask, "What have YOU done for THEM lately?"
Thank goodness there ARE people in Tennessee who are willing to keep working on behalf of our entertainment industry...even in the face of disappointments and setbacks...even if we are not perfect in every way. I've had the good fortune to meet hundreds of them from every region of the State...all who BELIEVE we can do better...and are willing to step up to implement change.
It is SO EASY to cut and run when the obstacles are many! I'd wager that any of the people you have chosen to publicly demean have, on many occasions, considered riding off into the sunset. Admittedly, you HAVE walked away from several states already and are considering making yet another exit.
Perhaps no one has asked for your help while you've been here....
So I'd like to invite you to stay. I encourage you to join AFFT and any or all of the acronyms in town. Mostly, I'd like you to become part of the solution as opposed to what you will be when you pack your bags and go.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Liam, I can't dispute the veracity of your comments, but I do find it a tad amusing that you denounce the auto industry for being an unreliable channel to build sustainable jobs, while at the same time saying you are ready to move on. I will not stoop to that disgusting knee-jerk "so move!" reaction that most yokels use when an outsider criticizes something about all-holy Tennessee. But I will point out the slight hypocrisy of demanding state investment in something as fickle as film production.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Marc HIll, Chief of Education Buyouts at the Metro School Board
There is no Need to DEFEND the Academies.... Nashville and HILLSBORO high has indeed embraced & will support the Academies but simply not the execution and roll-out strategy.
Unfortunately your facts are skewed and are not relevant. The 61% of Hillsboro Students that you claim do not meet this expectation for a 21-Composite on the ACT you have failed to make a clear delineation of those that failed if they are current IB students are not.
By only providing one Statistic your portrayal is irrelevant and misrepresents the facts. If you would like to re-present those numbers and demonstrate a clear delineation of IB vs. non IB students then this may actually yield a more relevant statistic.
Please refrain from making statements that are not clear and relevant. I am disappointed that you have elected to make this an IB Students vs. Academies issue - which it's CLEARLY not. It's the approach. It's a shame that Jay Steele needs you to bail out his apparent lack of leadership.
Perhaps you should explain to Nashvillians why you have elected to provide financial and political support to the MPS board. Would you happen to know how much financial support was provided to current board members....If not don't worry. We'll find out shortly.
By, the way I got a 23 on ACT back in 1992; and I am not an elitist. I went to the UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
I was pleased to read Jeff Burk's response to Hargrove's article and I agree 100% with JiminNashville. Information that was presented at trial indicated that Cyntoia "shot Mr. Allen just to see what it would feel like to kill someone." Hmmmm... that doesn't sound like an "impulsive act." Also, Mr. Allen's hands were clasped together at the time he was executed, therefore, the self-defense claim didn't fly and the jury agreed. There were huge lapses in the film, therefore, making it one-sided. Obviously, that was Mr. Birman's intent (for the film to be "all about Cyntoia") The defendant, who had a violent and lengthy juvenile history, would not have been rehabilitated by the age of 19, therefore, there was no choice but for her to be placed into the adult system. The article did appear to dehumanize Mr. Allen as it threw dirt (although subtle) on him. That's messed up. The film/media does not give anyone a chance to give Johnny Allen a voice. That too is messed up.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Mr. Hargrove,
I've given my views on your story before, and I'll try not to repeat myself.
I first need to point out that on one occasion, I criticized you for not mentioning something that in fact you did mention very clearly in your article. I should have apologized for that before, and I do now.
You made some valid points above in your own defense.
However, in view of your claims of objectivity, I return to the issue of tone and intent. When the title on your story refers to a teenager's "impulsive" act, you are, in effect, stating a *hypothesis* of impulsivity as fact. To try to back away from that now is disingenuous.
And it's wrong. There is *no* credible evidence that Ms. Brown acted impulsively.
What kind of terrorized, horrified teenager plots to recruit accomplices to return to the scene of the crime to loot the victim's possessions while the dead body is still there? The jury didn't buy it for one second.
2. Your article pointed us to a PBS TV Show. The television show offered some insightful moments about Cyntoia's life history and her relatives'. However, I and a co-viewer noticed huge lapses in the show. For one thing, almost all information was presented via Cyntoia, the sympathetic videographer, or a relentless parade of defense expert witnesses or relatives. Strikingly absent from the video was any footage of Cyntoia attacking staff or inmates, or any detailed account of this. Cyntoia's articulate and obviously very intelligent adoptive mother was never cornered to provide an explanation for her apparently complete lack of control over her daughter. There were several cute pictures of Cyntoia growing up, but no details of her mom's frustration or Cyntoia's earlier history as a violent juvenile offender. Obviously, her mom felt constrained to avoid saying things that might damage Cyntoia's case, but an effective and unbiased interviewer could easily have gotten to the bottom of what kind of out-of-control child Cyntoia really was in the years just prior to her execution of Mr. Allen. So, once again, the truth got muffled.
In other words, the show was a setup, designed to emphasize Cyntoia's bad genetics, tragic life history, and potential for growth. It de-emphasized her history of violence, and failed to allow *anyone* to even try to give Johnny Allen a voice.
3. I feel I must, once again, comment on the *huge* intellectual inconsistency that characterized your treatment of Mr. Allen versus that of Ms. Brown. You slyly note that the prosecutor failed to bring up the "Good Samaritan" theory, and that he was, after all, naked in bed after picking up a minor.
Try a little thought experiment. Suppose Mr. Allen had caught Cyntoia sneaking up on him with a pistol and gunned her down in self-defense, and was prosecuted for it. If Cyntoia were the "victim," I suspect you and a hundred other liberal advocates would be angrily playing the "don't blame the victim" card on any defense lawyer who brought up the "victim's" violent past and criminal history. On the other hand, when the perpetrator is a cute young female, you're willing to swallow and present as fact, a rather absurd story about an "impulsive" act of self-defense.
The massive anti-male biases evident throughout our society are clearly on display here. It is precisely because Allen was a male and Brown a female that information on the case is being processed through such a distorted lens. This is why, crime for crime, women are detected less, arrested less, charged less, convicted less, and serve shorter sentences.
Fortunately, Jeff Burks saw things clearly in this case.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
It comes as no surprise to me -- and I had hoped it wouldn't to him, either -- that Assistant District Attorney Jeff Burks and I are in agreement about many things in his letter to the editor, written in response to a recent cover story I wrote, "Life Begins at Sixteen." Usually, as he mentions, the juvenile perpetrators of crime are victims themselves. And what is a juvenile judge to do with a troubled teen when that judge's jurisdiction doesn't extend beyond the 19th birthday? What is Judge Betty Adams Green or ADA Burks to do when public safety requires adult punishment? Burks is absolutely right about this. At the moment, there are no other options.
In Cyntoia Brown's case, the system worked as it is currently designed to. An exceptionally violent crime -- in this case the murder of Johnny Allen -- resulted in a transfer to the criminal court. A jury found her guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced her to life in prison. She was competently represented by her attorneys, Wendy Tucker and Rich McGee. Cyntoia's isn't the story of a stunning miscarriage of justice, where bumbling attorneys provide incompetent representation, or where a prosecutor chooses to win at any cost, even if it means withholding evidence. It doesn't appear that any of that occurred during Cyntoia's trial. In that respect, it was fairly unremarkable.
Now, unfortunately, I must begin disagreeing with Mr. Burks. He says I wrote the article "in a light most favorable to Ms. Brown." Further on, he cites the 16-year-old's recorded conversation with her mother, where she says she "executed" Allen. He notes that she took items from his home -- two guns and his truck -- and later attempted to convince an acquaintance to return to the scene of the crime because there was a lot of money to be had (there wasn't). He reminds us of her laughter at the homicide unit shortly after her arrest, when she phoned a friend and told her she was charged with murder. The list goes on: Assaults on nurses, plotted escapes, etc. All of this, of course, is in the story I wrote. If my goal was to omit the bad in favor of the good, I failed miserably.
Burks goes on to assert that I presented Cyntoia's "statements and viewpoints" as fact. On the advice of her attorneys, Cyntoia declined to discuss the details of the crime because of an ongoing appeal. Any statement or viewpoint related to the crime came from transcripts, and even then I was sure to attribute them to her so it was clear who they were coming from. Much like a jury, readers must decide for themselves whether they believe her version of the events. Burks maintains he believes Johnny Allen was asleep when she shot him. I would posit that scenario is as unverifiable and speculative as Cyntoia's, which makes premeditation, in my mind, much more difficult to justify. From the beginning, I didn't want to put Johnny Allen on trial. He isn't here to defend himself, so Mr. Burks is correct: I didn't spend much time on him. Yet I also think I'd be remiss if I failed to note the fact that Mr. Allen was found naked in his bed after picking the minor up on the side of Murfreesboro Road. Did he deserve to die for it? Of course not. But it's also worth noting that Mr. Burks never pursued the good Samaritan theory at trial.
Lastly, Mr. Burks goes after former Assistant Attorney General Preston Shipp for his "change of heart" after befriending Cyntoia through the Lipscomb LIFE Program he teaches at the Tennessee Prison for Women. Shipp, as it turned out, argued against her case at the Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Burks claims Shipp points to a problem in the juvenile justice system, but fails to offer a solution. On the contrary, as noted in the article, Shipp is in favor of blended sentencing -- a rehabilitation-focused program that gives juvenile judges' extended jurisdiction and provides for a separate facility where damaged youths are, in effect, remade. If they show genuine, measurable progress, they might get a second shot.
My intent in writing this article was to present a life in context. It was not to pillory prosecutors and juvenile judges, who I believe are doing the best they can within the system we have. I didn't want to spoon-feed readers only the sympathetic, hard-luck story. Nor did I want to focus only on Cyntoia's criminal acts, pretending as though a million factors -- both genetic and traumatic -- hadn't informed her current predicament.
Re: “Love/Hate Mail”
Wonderful pearls apply to our times!
http://www.sampleletters.org/