For JinC Regulars and Commenters - short - 7 - 28 - 06

Many of you know some of the best fact-gathering and commentary on the assault incident at Blinco's sport bar can be found on the most recent comment threads at the Editor's Blog.

You know because some of you are part of it. Too bad N&O reporters aren't also. But maybe they're reading and will learn.

I continue to appreciate and learn from your comments. Some of you send on some humor stuff. I like that too. Where did Liestoppers come from? It's a laugh place unless you an N&O journalist or work for DA Nifong.

Please keep your comments coming. They inform, encourage and remind me.

Yesterday someone sent me a take on the difference between the "wanted" and "vigilante" posters. I worked part of it into the "vigilante" questions post comment I left at the Editor's Blog. What the commenter gave was right on time to what I was doing and in the parts I used better than what I had.

The same day that the Friends of DU put their ad in The Chronicle someone tipped me: The Chronicle's editorial that day was PC with nary a mention of the injustices committed against the editors fellow students. I'm working on a response.

Didn't get a post done yesterday calling Sheehan out for her terrible "Team's Silence is Sickening" post on the four-month anniversary of its publication. I'm sorry I missed the date but I'll get that one done.

I plan to call Charns this afternoon. I may not connect with him. Also, Patrick Baker may not have responded to Charns.

Whatever happens, I'll let you know Saturday.

A couple of things about the CrimeStoppers/Charns matter.

I got into it because no one back in May was paying attention to it. It looked like a small thing to many people.

But if you recall the DPD was not commenting to Charns. Cpl. Addison, so talkative in Mar. and Apr. had gone silent and has remained so.

But the matters about which Charns was inquiring and making disclosure requests, and about which I later inquired of DPD and interviewed Maj. Lee Russ, are questions about what should under proper circumstances be matters of routine for police. We weren't talking undercover investigations.

CrimeStoppers is meant to be a very public kind of police/community activity. But in the case of the CrimeStoppers DL "wanted" posters: Silence from the police when Charns asked who and why.

A take it to the bank two-part rule:

1) When police do something like CrimeStoppers right, they'll shout it from the roof of the station house. And why not! They have tough, dangerous jobs and the good ones never get the thanks they deserve.

2) When police are silent on a CrimeStoppers kind of activity, it's always because
they know they did something wrong and are trying to cover it.

Sunday or Monday I'll say more about CrimeStoppers and what its posters help tell us about the Duke lacrosse police/DA investigation.

I think you know where I'm going.

John