Month: November 2003

OF MICE AND MEN

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date November 9, 2003

Several mild winters have led to an explosion in the Mid-South’s rat population, but don’t expect the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department to do anything about it. Their rodent control division was pretty much axed in September (see story this page), which saves the county some where in the neighborhood of $106,840. According to CA reporter Bartholomew Sullivan, these days the health department advises homeowners to buy their own poison. With a little bit of luck, the savings will be enough to deal with this guy when he finally shows up:

News News Feature

HOW IT LOOKS

Post author By
Post date November 9, 2003

Sports Sports Feature

GRIZ HEAR SOUR NOTE FROM JAZZ

Post author By Cheri DelBrocco
Post date November 9, 2003

SALT LAKE CITY — Andrei Kirilenko scored 25 points Saturday night as the Utah Jazz remained unbeaten at home with a 96-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Raja Bell fueled a decisive run for the Jazz, who improved to 4-0 at the Delta Center as they continued their surprising start.

Utah led by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, then fought off a late rally by Memphis, which suffered its third straight loss.

James Posey scored 17 points for the Grizzlies, who had all five starters in double figures but fell to 2-15 all-time in Utah. They are 5-27 against the Jazz since entering the NBA in 1995.

News News Feature

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: A READER RESPONDS

Post author By Cheri DelBrocco
Post date November 8, 2003

A Response to Ed Weathers’ “The Relevant Quagmire:

There are a couple of problems with the column:

1. Fundamentally, the entire premise if flawed. In his article, Mr. Weathers contends that the same scenarios and circumstances that doomed the Soviets in Afghanistan will doom the United States in Iraq. The fundamental problem with his argument is that if that is true, why didn’t it work out that way when the United States invaded Afghanistan? The U.S. invaded the same place against the same fundamentalist group and took the place down in less than two months with less than 50 combat casualties. If Mr. Weather’s theory were true, it wouldn’t have happened that way. Some other thoughts:

2. Not only was the US and Britain just “involved” in the mujahadeen resistance, it provided tons of money, technology, weapons, and “advisors.” Without that support from major superpowers, the mujahadeen could not have fought the war for so long. This is exactly the same thing that happened in Viet Nam, except it was the Soviets that were underwriting the Viet Cong and NVA. There are no superpowers bankrolling this “resistance.” In fact, it’s not even a grass-roots Iraqi movement that is causing the problems. Thirty percent of the captured enemy combatants are mercenary Muslims from other parts of the world coming in to cause trouble. The remainder are former Baathists and Sadaamites. Furthermore, 70 percent of Iraq (northern and southern parts) of Iraq are stable functioning. It’s only 30% in the Sunni Triangle that is causing problems.

3. Russia was in Afghanistan for trumped up reasons. It hadn’t had a 9-11 a precursor going in. As long as the administration (any administration) can rationally tie in what they are doing to the elimination of state sponsored terrorism, it is going to have public support.

4. Both the Russian and American (in Vietnam) military was conscripted, which means that moms and dads were sending 18-19 year olds out of high school to fight a war they knew nothing about. Here, the entire military is made of 100% volunteers and those who are doing most of the actual fighting are actually two and three time volunteers (1. to join, 2. to be in a combat role (eg. infantry), 3. to be in an elite unit (eg. SEALs, Spec. Forces, Recon. etc.) Not only is this military volunteer, but they aren’t coming home and protesting the US involvement in the war. The people I have personally spoken with in the military, some of whom have recently returned from Iraq, indicate that everyone they served with understands the reasons they are there, and more importantly, agrees with it. The reason is that everyone experienced September 11, and they understand what it is we’re doing.

5. What’s with the quagmire talk? Is Weathers complaining that after all of seven months since the start of hostilities that we’ve only captured or killed 45 of the 52 Iraqi figures on the deck of “Wanted” playing cards, secured more than 13,000 forces from 19 nations to provide peacekeeping, trained and armed more than 50,000 Iraqis for new police and civil-defense forces and began shifting security roles to them in 58 of Iraq’s 89 cities, set up an interim parliament, established a timeline for Iraq to come up with a constitution and establish a budget, set up more than 6,000 Iraqi civil affairs units– local governments –, introduced a new currency, reopened hospitals, set up a court system, and obtained recognition of the interim government from the Arab League (which the UN has yet to do). Gosh (he says sarcastically) what the HECK is taking so long?

In context, although declaring independence in 1776, the present-day constitution wasn’t drafted until 1787, and although WWII “major combat operations” ended in 1945, West Germany did not have federal elections until 1949 and the peace treaty with Japan was not signed until 1951. This doesn’t include the still unresolved quagmires of the Korean conflict (50 years), Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty” (40 years), or affirmative action (25 years).

6. All we hear about is how much of a mess it is because we are averaging 1 U.S. combat a day. That’s 365 per year in a WAR ZONE. While every soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice is a hero, the fact remains that there were more casualties in a week in Viet Nam then there have been in two years in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. That’s close to the average number of casualties per day in World War II. Similarly, the Soviets suffered 10 times more casualties per day in Afghanistan than we currently are in Iraq. Also, here’s the number of law enforcement officers that have been killed in the United States in the past 5 years: 2003: 117, 2002: 153, 2001: 237, 2000: 161, 1999: 151, 1998: 175. I don’t recall newspaper articles or columnist hacks writing about the “quagmire” we’re in right at home.

Rex Randall Erickson

San Diego, California

Editorial Opinion

Lessons of the Weekend

Post author By Editorial
Post date November 7, 2003

On the same weekend that 16 brave young Americans lost their lives when their helicopter was blown from the Iraqi sky by guerrillas, their Commander in Chief had his own scare.

Betina Mixon, the young mother who on Saturday rammed her car into a wall of the DeSoto County Civic Center in Southaven, not far from where the presidential limousine was preparing to depart, is clearly no guerrilla. In fact, the mortified family members and friends who huddled around the DeSoto County jail following her arrest made it clear that Mixon had no political agenda at all and, in fact, no politics to speak of. She was apparently not even registered to vote.

Mixon was revealed to have experienced more than her share of recent domestic turbulence — including her father’s death, her brother’s hospitalization, and what her kindred proclaimed to be stormy relations with her husband. Though her motives may never be totally unraveled, Mixon seemed clearly not to be angry at President Bush, who was in Southaven to address a Republican Party rally on behalf of Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour.

The fact remains that, in an age in which car bombs are virtually a weapon of choice for political terrorists, the woman got close enough to the departing president to have put him in serious jeopardy. Recent concerns about possible lapses in (or distortions of) political/military intelligence abroad should not obscure obvious lapses in security precautions at home and the grave threat they present to public officials.

Sometimes literal facts are perfect metaphors in themselves. What this incident showed us is that there are still holes in our national security apparatus big enough to — well, big enough to drive a car through.

We are glad that President Bush was not endangered, but we are glad, too, that he was able to observe this problem firsthand. It is no secret that budget reductions have caused a drastic curtailing of previously intended Homeland Security measures, and the next time the president is moved to advocate a fresh round of tax cuts he might ponder some of the potential consequences.

But, while federal attention to security precautions is certainly called for, we are more dubious about the potential for federal intervention on another score also brought to the fore by the Mixon matter. Those reporters who worked the story over the weekend know that seemingly definitive word got out from the Secret Service as to what would prove to be the ultimate state charge against Mixon (aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer, two counts) a day before any such charge was decided on by the Mississippi district attorney in charge of the case. Later, local officials would acknowledge “consulting” with the feds on the matter.

There are several ways to look at that. Close cooperation between levels of law enforcement is one thing. Dictation from above is another. We are not in a position to judge what was what in this case, but at a time when the Justice Department’s prerogatives under the Patriot Act have aroused concern at both ends of the political spectrum, we would suggest that observing normal jurisdictional boundaries should be a given in relations between agencies.

News The Fly-By

Doctor My Eyes

Post author By Walter Jowers
Post date November 7, 2003

A couple months back, I was squatting behind our backyard home plate, and daughter Jess was firing drop balls at me. As she paused between pitches, she asked, Dad, do you have your eyes closed?

Daughter, I said, you re throwing drop balls, the most evil pitch known to a catching daddy without a cup. I have to catch them all, or pay a heavy price. So, don t you know, my eyes are open.

Okay, just asking, she said, as she fired another one that started at my chest, then arced down to where my cup ought to be. But you still look like your eyes are closed. You re not flinching back there, are you?

I knew that my eyelids had gotten a little droopy over the past few years. It happened gradually, so I didn t pay it much attention. But when Jess thought I was sleeping through drop-ball practice, I knew it was time to go see the eyelid doc.

I went to see Dr. Louise Mawn, an oculoplastic surgeon over at Vanderbilt. She agreed with Jess: My lids were too low. Then, she and a busload of other docs ran endless tests to prove that my lids were too low. One was the visual-fields test, where I had to stare into a big white bowl and click a Jeopardy-style buzzer when I saw a dot of light moving down from the top of the bowl. After a round of testing with my low lids, a kind and gentle woman taped my eyelids up, so I looked like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. Then I did the whole see-light/click-buzzer routine again. By the end of the day, all the docs, machines, and measurements were in agreement: I would see a whole lot better, especially at night, if I got my eyelids raised. As a no-extra-charge bonus, I d also look better. Not that I wouldn t still be ugly as pan-fried dirt.

So we set a date: October 3rd. That morning, I reported to Vanderbilt, went to my room, gowned myself up, and waited for somebody to come get me. I sat in the recliner chair and tried to relax. Then it hit me: I have walked into this hospital voluntarily and I have actually asked somebody to take a knife to my eyelids.

Then I started pondering: There s not much to an eyelid. It s not even half as thick as a saltine cracker. What if the knife slips, and they cut one of my eyelids off? They ll never get that sumbitch sewed back on right. I ll have to get a prosthetic eyelid with a motor that they ll mount to my temple, with big bolts, like a mag wheel. I ll have to raise and lower my plastic eyelid with a Jeopardy buzzer. It ll have to retract up into a slit in my skull. The fake eyelid will clank and whirr when it goes up and down. For the rest of my life, I ll be Eyelid Man. Children will mock and fear me. Here he comes, Mama. Eyelid man. Listen to him clank and whirr. Should I laugh or run or what?

So, when the anesthesiologists came in, I begged them: If y all cut off one of my eyelids, just kill me. Turn up the gas, put a kink in my air hose, give me a horse-dose of morphine. I don t care how you do it. Just do not send me home eyelidless.

Well, I learned right then that you don t joke with the anesthesiologists about killing you during surgery. That s not funny to them. As soon as the words horse-dose of morphine left my lips, they stepped outside my door and started whispering. I heard every word. Long story short, I almost smartassed my way into a psych consult.

Lucky for me, the next doc in the room had a sense of humor. I talked to her about her work, and she shared this: Y know, a lot of cataract patients think we pop their eyeballs out, fix them, and then put them back in. I think to myself, Who doesn t know that there are no body parts that pop in and out? But I don t say anything to the patients. I just let them keep that image of popped-out eyeballs in their heads.

A few minutes later, some people I don t remember wheeled me into the operating room, where those anesthesia people knocked me out calmly and professionally. Well, I assume they were calm and professional. Truth is, I don t remember anything until I woke up and heard Dr. Mawn telling me to open and close my eyes. She pulled on little threads, which pulled my lids up like windowshades, until she got the lids just right. When she was satisfied with the job, she sewed me up and sent me back to my room.

Now, almost a month later, I can go outside at night and see things I haven t seen for years. The only downside to the eyelid surgery is that I had to wear ice bags on my eyes for two days. Despite the ice, I had a fair bit of swelling and bruising for about two weeks. When people asked, What happened to your eyes? I just told em: Every morning, my wife gets out of bed and beats the hell out of me. I think a few people believed it.

Letters To The Editor Opinion

Postscript

Post author By Flyer Readers
Post date November 7, 2003

PETA PeEves

To the Editor:

The limelight recently enjoyed by both Tom II and PETA (City Reporter, October 30th issue) has given me pause. I have been vegetarian for 21 years and fashionably leather-free for nearly as long because I cannot justify to myself the unnecessary killing of any animals to make my life easy. In that, I am in concert with the principles of PETA, though their strategies have been impossible for me to embrace.

The protests of PETA’s Amy Rhodes about the inhumane treatment of the U of M mascot make me question priorities once again. Tom seems to be the least abused of any captive animal recently publicized and seems also not to be dissatisfied with his current life. Why does PETA choose Tom’s cause?

Where is PETA if they are not on the front steps of our own animal “shelter,” where vagrant, wandering, and merely lost animals are euthanized if no one claims them during their three-day reprieve after capture?

Where, in fact, are other, less radical animal-lovers?

Greg Stidham

Memphis

An Alternate Universe?

To the Editor:

I enjoy reading the Flyer, because it is so nice to see a publication not afraid to point out that sometimes something’s not right in the “land of the free.” But when I saw the letter from Rob Ikard (October 30th issue), I was compelled to write. Perhaps, in an alternate universe, George W. Bush will be remembered as one of our greatest presidents, but hopefully that universe only exists in Ikard’s head.

As evidence mounts of the deception that Bush used to get us into a war that has finally achieved what Osama bin Laden wanted, maybe Americans will stop responding like slack-jawed zombies to Bush’s lies. His energy policies are destroying the country, people’s rights are being trampled upon, and no one is feeling any safer.

And by the way, President Clinton won the 1992 election by 68.8 percent of the electoral vote and the 1996 election by 70.4 percent. Bush, on the other hand, in an election stolen by the Supreme Court, was still only able to muster 50.4 percent of the electoral vote. And that’s including Florida, the state where his brother Jeb governs. Gore won the popular vote.

After losing by a corrupt whisker, you’re damn right we’re still mad. Hopefully, 2004 is the year we get even.

Mary Mitchel

Memphis

Dehumanizing Palestinians

To the Editor:

Between September 1972 and October 2003, there have been 37 U.N. resolutions critical of Israel on a range of issues. Every single resolution was vetoed by the U.S.A.

Since the creation of the Zionist state in May 1948, the U.S. has sent nearly $100 billion to Israel. Israel is one of three countries that hasn’t signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and Israel has forbidden inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Then there is the issue of the so-called security fence (Viewpoint, October 23rd issue). Israel says it’s for its security and safety. Its real purpose is to dehumanize the Palestinians even more!

It really amazes me that supporters of the Zionist state claim that Israelis are the victims and the Palestinians are the aggressors in this long, bitter conflict. Palestinians are fighting for their land, their dignity, and their right to self-determination.

Omar Amer

Memphis

Another Failed War

To the Editor:

In the last 50 years, the United States has not declared war on another country. Oh, we have invaded a few and bombed the crap out of some others, but not declared war.

We have declared war, though, on poverty and on drugs. And we have not made the tiniest dent in those problems. After decades of the War on Poverty, the number of poor people in this country is approaching numbers not seen since the Depression. Meanwhile, the resident of the White House continues to give tax cuts to the rich.

After decades of the War on Drugs, inmates on death row can still get drugs, yet we spend billions every year on the fantasy that we can keep them from crossing our borders.

Now we have declared the War on Terror. The wars on poverty and drugs have yielded nothing but huge bureaucracies, official corruption, bad foreign policy, loss of national prestige, massive debt, and failure.

Why should we expect any better this time?

Michael B. Conway

Memphis

The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.

Music Music Features

Local Beat

Post author By Andria Lisle
Post date November 7, 2003

Give it up for Jazze Pha, who was nominated for Producer of the Year at the 2003 Source Awards and who is best known for his recent work with Outkast (“Bowtie”), Nappy Roots (“Aw Naw”), and Bow Wow (“Let’s Get Down”).

“It’s an honor to be considered,” Pha says, calling from the Atlanta airport, where he’s headed to St. Louis for a video shoot. It seems that Pha — aka Phalon Alexander — is always on the move. How does this man — a songwriter, vocalist, disc jockey (on Atlanta’s Hot 107.9 FM), producer, and current Cash Money Millionaires honcho — find the time to fit everything in?

“I just do stuff every day,” Pha says of his extraordinary work ethic. Citing the late Tupac Shakur as an example, Pha says, “He did three or four songs every day. That’s why his music still feeds his family. That should be a lesson to everybody on the creative tip. We should be as prolific as possible.”

Where does he find his inspiration? “Memphis affects me a lot,” Pha, the son of Bar-Kays bassist James Alexander and disco diva Denece Williams, admits. He credits Southern music — “the old-school stuff” — with playing a big part. “Al Green, Beale Street, going to church, all those things have influenced me.” His all-time favorite album? Green’s I’m Still in Love with You.

But, for now at least, Jazze Pha lives in Atlanta. “Whatever you’re trying to do, you have to take it to the 10th power to be successful. That’s why I came to ATL. It’s the Hollywood of the South. I wanted to pursue my dream. I would’ve gone anywhere to do it,” he says. “Sometimes it’s not bad to get out. But it’s always cool to return home,” he continues. “In a few years, I’m gonna buy a new house in Memphis.”

Look for more of Jazze Pha this fall, as collaborations with Bonecrusher, David Banner, and 17-year-old Arista signee Ciara hit the street.

Local soul-blues greats The Fieldstones are playing the Funeral for a Friend benefit, with proceeds going toward burial expenses for the late Lois Brown, the group’s former bassist, who died on September 5th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shangri-La Projects‘ Sherman Willmott organized the event, scheduled for Murphy’s at 10 p.m. this Friday, November 7th.

University of Memphis music professor Dr. David Evans — whose Last Chance Jug Band will also perform — recalls seeing the Fieldstones play at Willie’s Lounge in South Memphis as early as 1979. “I hadn’t seen too many women musicians, so I was struck by the fact that Lois was in the group,” Evans says. “She made me feel welcome. She had me sit at the musicians’ table, and it turned out that she was also the band’s business manager.”

“I felt they had to be recorded,” Evans explains. That sentiment led to the album Memphis Blues Today!, which was cut at the U of M’s studio in the early ’80s. Evans took Brown and the Fieldstones to Europe and South America, while, locally, the group migrated to the J&J Lounge and then, finally, to legendary nightspot Green’s Lounge, which was located on Person Avenue until it burned several years ago.

Both Willmott and Evans expect most of the band’s revolving roster — including guitarists Wilroy Sanders, Wordie Perkins, James Bonner, and “Chicken” George Walker, vocalist Little Applewhite, organist Bobby Carnes, and bassists Joe Gaston and Harold Bonner — to make an appearance, alongside former Green’s Lounge regular Mr. Clean, who never misses a show.

The entire city should turn out for Rev. A.D. “Gatemouth” Moore‘s 90th birthday celebration, held at the Center for Southern Folklore this Friday, November 7th, from 6 to 9 p.m. Though he was born in Topeka, Kansas, Moore figures large in the annals of Memphis music history. He dominated the Beale Street scene during the ’30s, toured with the F.S. Wolcott Rabbit Foot Minstrels, and deejayed on WDIA. One of the first to cross from secular to sacred music, Moore has also pastored at more than a dozen churches in town and presided at hundreds of weddings and funerals, including those of Rufus Thomas and Johnny Ace.

Moore’s birthday party will be a three-day affair: In addition to Friday’s event, he’s the recipient of a tribute at the Hard Rock CafÇ on Saturday, November 8th, from 6 to 10 p.m., and guest pastor at New Sardis Baptist Church on Sunday, November 9th, at 11 a.m. “I’m the greatest religious entertainer in the world,” Moore claims. “The only difference between religious songs and the blues is the lyrics. When I sang the blues, I sang about my baby. And now I sing about Christ.”

E-mail: localbeat@memphisflyer.com