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anti-press ezine 2001 06 08
ANTI-PRESS EZINE #24
"We're Positive About The Negative"
**SPECIAL EDITION**
(C) Copyright 2001 Anti-Press All Rights Reserved
JUST SAY NO TO APATHY
A while back someone emailed us and asked why we kept talking about
Plattsburgh, NY. We follow a basic rule for zinesters: Rant about what
you know.
Also, we're stuck here due to circumstances beyond our control -- for
now. Anyway, Plattsburgh can be seen as a microcosm of what is wrong
with America. Hell, why bother with just this country? Lately this
overgrown podunk reflects what is wrong with the world at large.
What follows is a copy of an email that was sent to Plattsburgh's mayor,
the TeeVee station, the local (news)Paper, and us here at the Precision
Reality Center. We'll follow up with our opinions after this email.
+ + +
Apathy & The Plattsburgh P.D.
I found the bowl to a hash pipe in the men's room at the Plattsburgh
Public library. It was loaded with residue. This restroom is right
next to the children's room in the library.
So what did the city police department do about it?
Nothing.
I didn't expect the P.D. to rush down to the library and immediately
arrest the owner of the bowl. That person was probably long gone. But
I assumed at some point that an officer would go there, pick up the drug
paraphernalia and the amount of illegal controlled substance, and then
properly dispose of it. Then I thought they would file a report, doing
the minimum amount of paperwork.
The library staff did its part. They called the P.D. and then locked up
the men's room so that the police could stop by at their convenience.
But instead the cops told the librarian to take the bowl and its
contents and just "throw it out". Gee, I didn't know that there was a
section in the city charter that said the library was responsible for
the disposal of evidence and controlled substances.
Well, it's better that I found that hash bowl instead of some kid who
could've wandered in from the children's room. I can see it now: little
Johnny with residue all over his hands, saying, "Mommy, look at what I
found."
For the record: if someone wants to do drugs, that's fine by me. I
don't care if it's pot or heroin, it's your body, do what you want.
Just keep it at home. I don't want your crap lying around in a public
building for a kid to pick up.
It's interesting that posted in plain sight at one of the city schools
is a sign proclaiming that the school is a drug free area. Apparently
that doesn't apply to the city library.
There will always be a drug problem. I laugh when I hear that
government officials will stamp out the problem. So I don't expect the
local P.D. to eradicate all dope in the city. But since it sponsors the
DARE program, I expect it to do its job and at least file a report,
getting off its doughnut-enhanced butt and setting an example for the
kids it *supposedly* wants to protect.
Then again, if someone doesn't file a report, then they can claim that
crime statistics are improving. Out of sight, out of mind.
Luke T. Bush
+ + +
We know where this guy is coming from. He doesn't expect the police to
be supercops, solving every crime. But he's fed up with the false
illusion that this community is Heaven-On-Earth, the crime rate is so
low that it's non-existent. After all, Plattsburgh was voted as one of
the best micropolitan communities to live in the U.S.
And we can easily imagine what the city officials are saying about the
author of the above email: "That bastard is making us look bad! And
after all that money we spent promoting the city as a Great Place!"
Wake up, politicos. Plattsburgh has problems and one of them is drugs.
This city serves as a way station between Montreal and New York City for
dealers. We've talked to kids who say it's easy to score around here.
Of course, the cops will put on a big drug bust every couple of years or
so, i.e. small fish are caught in the net and new ones swim in to take
over.
We're sick of politicos flapping their yaps, spitting meaningless
feelgood words in the wind. We're fed up with the crap, "We care about
the children, we have zero tolerance for drugs." Put up or shut up.
The status quo is to wage a "war" on some drugs. It's all about image,
not action. If a report is never filed -- especially one dealing with a
controlled substance found in a public building -- then it seems that
the "war" is keeping the problem under control.
And it's not just the cops and the politicos who like to live in a sunny
world of illusion. We've talked to a few locals, gauging their reaction
to this incident. It's amazing how a middle-class person, half-blinded
with dense rose-colored glasses, acts like there is nothing wrong. "Why
did that guy bother to write a letter?"
We mentioned to one woman how she would feel if her young son found that
hash pipe bowl. She replied she would just tell her son that it was
nothing, that someone forgot their tobacco pipe. Hmmmm, we wonder what
she would say if her son was pricked by a dirty needle...
Another woman, a patron of the library, also shrugged it off. _Tsk,
tsk_. It must be nice to suffer from severe pink myopia.
Working our sources -- and we can honestly say our sources are better
than what the local mainstream media uses to gather "news" -- we're
seeing a pattern developing, a bad one. From what we've learned, The
Paper was going to run a story tomorrow (Saturday, June 9) about the
hash bowl incident. The email-author/activist was interviewed and
provided some quotes and background detail about what he witnessed. Now
the story is being dropped for a while because the reporter is unable to
talk with anyone at the police department who knows anything about the
incident. At one point the story had to appear this weekend because it
was timely. Now it's being put off until next week.
Also, the activist was contacted by the TeeVee station and was put in
the position of explaining to the reporter why this incident was "news".
It reminds us of that classic scene in the movie, "The Night Stalker",
in which a reporter is telling his editor why they should run a story
instead of killing it. "Because it's NEWS! The purpose of a newspaper
is to publish NEWS!" Then again, since we're talking about TeeVee,
image is more important than substance. If it ain't flashy or sexy, it
ain't news.
Like they say, this story is developing. Whether or not the local media
do anything or just help to maintain the sunny illusion, we'll keep
track and see what happens. We don't like to be cynical. Maybe
someone, besides that email-author/activist, will do something.
By the way, there was an interesting assault in Plattsburgh during the
week. A couple of inbred yahoos drove into town, spotted a guy walking
down the street, called him a "faggot" and then one of the rednecks
coldcocked the guy, splitting his lip. The victim, a peaceable fellow,
had to go to the emergency room for stitches.
Besides drugs, we wonder what the openly gay-mayor of Plattsburgh thinks
about "hate crime".
Plattsburgh. Such a lovely place, in *every* way.
More next time. (Unless they find us floating face-down in the lake, a
doughnut stuffed in our mouth.)
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