Tuesday, June 24, 2014

That's what: Threat or menace?

You guys are just toying with us now, aren't you?

Gang members, or misunderstood rap fans?

That’s what a federal judge will soon decide about the “Juggalos” — fans of Detroit music duo Insane Clown Posse, which claims the FBI is giving its fans a bad rap by labeling them as dangerous gang members.


Sigh. If it wasn't a good idea Saturday and it wasn't a good idea last week, why would it suddenly have become a good idea for today? Not that things get much better as we go along:

The FBI says it has only labeled a “subset” of the Juggalos as gang members — not the entire fan base — and wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the gang-designation is causing ICP to lose fans and violates the freedom of expression rights of Juggalos.

U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland today said he will issue a decision in two to three weeks in a lawsuit that has pitted the FBI’s rights to investigate gangs against the rights of music fans to express themselves freely without fear of retaliation.


No, they're the same lawsuit (as is the "a lawsuit" in the following graf) -- suggesting that we want a nonrestrictive clause, to make clear we're adding more information about the one that's already in play.

It'd be nice if the genuinely good (and expensive) public-interest reporting the paper still occasionally does didn't come amid so many distractions.

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1 Comments:

Blogger The Ridger, FCD said...

That's an absolutely standard Russian newspaper lede.

Оператор спутникового телевидения «НТВ Плюс» заплатит телезрительнице 10 тысяч рублей компенсации за прекращение трансляции телеканала «Дождь». Соответствующее решение вынес Тушинский районный суд. Об этом сообщает сайт «Право.Ru».

The owner of the satellite tv network NTV Plus will pay a viewer 10,000 rubles compensation* for cutting off the transmission of Dozhd' TV. This decision was pronounced by the Tushin Regional Court. That's what Pravo.Ru said on its website.

Okay, technically it's "about this", but still ... I wonder why it's so irresistible.

(*That comes to 1,200 rubles pain and suffering, a 600-ruble fine, and 8,000 for her legal costs.)

10:03 PM, July 02, 2014  

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