Today: Fox 4 Falls for Phoney Picket Photo Op While Musicians Boycott Plaza Jazz Club

The most sensational scandal in the modern Kansas City Jazz history is unfolding before our eyes…

If you thought jazz was dead in this town, think again. Granted, lip service from the usual suspects and the undying passion of ardent aficiondos aside, jazz isn’t exactly a popular art form these days.

Far from it.

Don’t get me wrong though. There’s a ton of quality live jazz around town spearheaded by artists like Mark Lowrey, Brandon Draper, Megan Birdsall, Danny Embrey, Lonnie McFadden, Shay Estes, Hermon Mehari and Mark Southerland. It just doesn’t get much media attention, and outside of venues like the Folly, Mutual Musicians Foundation and Jardine’s, not a lot of foot traffic.

Speaking of foot traffic…

A pair of former Jardine’s servers and a handful of their friends layed down a small town news style photo op for Fox 4 tonight around 7:30 p.m. The servers and scab friends picketed Jardine’s for Channel 4’s  9 and 10 p.m. news. Is it actually that easy to get on local television news these days?

I thought you had to be murdered or die in a fire or car crash.

Face it though, outside of Channel 4’s shooting jazz fish in a barrel tonight, most red-blooded, Chiefs-loving Kansas Citians look at jazz as little more than dinner music or something their grandparents allegedly got off on.

Even when TV news dresses it up with a super scarey, alleged arm scratch from a 98 pound woman.

That aside, when Plaza jazz joint Jardine’s went dark two weeks back, some local TV new departments went tabloid with “reports” of wholesale staff firings and other unthinkable transgressions. Hardly the stuff of the Penn State or Syracuse malfeasances on the tawdry scale, but slow news weeks are news weeks too.

Credible news operations like the Star and local jazz blog Plastic Sax took the high road, while Fox, lead the TV news charge, throwing everything but Charlie Parker’s plastic sax at Jardine’s, while failing to get the club’s side of the story.

The bottom line: however many generations later, Kansas City jazz is the talk of the town once again.

The rumors and TV coverage helped spark a boycott by some leading musicians in KC’s  jazz community.

“Almost the entire jazz community has quit – they will not work for me," Raja says. "This is a joke – it’s stupid…They just destroyed their meal tickets. The entire jazz community quit on me, because why? Because I fired two employees and the others left?”

Yet despite the alleged efforts of a certain sax-blowing parent of one Jardine’s servers, Raja continues to be open and book acts, including guitarist Jerry Hahn and crooner David Basse this week. And she says she’s willing to bury the hatchet with the bands that betrayed her and hope for better days ahead..

As for the club’s future, “It’s my game now, it’s my club,” Raja says. “I’m not worried about it, I’ll do my job. I have shed all my tears. And for every tear that I’ve shed, I will make it better for myself and my new team. I’m not going to be a blues club. I’m not going to be a country club. I’m going to be the best jazz club in the world.”

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46 Responses to Today: Fox 4 Falls for Phoney Picket Photo Op While Musicians Boycott Plaza Jazz Club

  1. Jorges says:

    integrity
    No offense meant hearne, but you are looking kind of biased in your reporting this story, accusing others of going “tabloid”? really?…. are you kidding talking like that? You do realize that you, Hearne Christopher, tend to go all tabloid too, and very often? Are you saying going tabloid is OK just as long as it is not a story about one of your close friends?

    Consider your reporting of the story about that weather guy…. uhm….that was as tabloid as it comes…
    I wonder how you have handled that story the exact same way it if he had been a close friend of yours?

    Please dont go all fox news biased on us….

  2. McKeever says:

    The best comment money and trade can buy!
    You do a good job for your sponsors Hearne.

    This is shill reporting that’s so sweet. I hope it pays well but it’s not journalism. It’s just another ad that crowds this dump.

    I won’t call you a sell out though, because you never really seemed to believe in anything.

  3. Mary says:

    Boycot?
    Hey, if you’re going to be a journalist, at least learn how to spell…….

  4. Super Dave says:

    Wait McKeever
    Hearne does show a lot of passion for that Fiat he drives.

  5. Dena says:

    Vetta’s
    I’m out of the loop on this one. I really haven’t been to this place since it was Vetta’s. (Anyone else ‘memba that?) At the time, I was waiting tables and bartending at a fine dining restaurant in Waldo. A few of us would go to Vetta’s after work. Those were the days.

    Actually, all this buzz and what not, I think I’ll go check the place out.

    Hearne drives a Fiat? Well, now that changes EVERYTHING.

  6. smartman says:

    Leave it to Beena
    BEENA: Hey Wally, how come everybody hates me?

    WALLY: I dunno Been, maybe ’cause you’re a knucklehead who’s always coked up.

    BEENA: Hey Wally you think Gus at the Fire Station ever did blow?

    WALLY: Holy cow Been! What kinda dopey question is that?

    BEENA: Hey Wally, would you have a problem with me hookin’ up with Mary Ellen Rodgers?

    WALLY: Knock it off Been. Mary Ellen doesn’t do stuff like that.

    BEENA: Hey Wally isn’t Lumpy’s dad an accountant or somethin’ like that?

    WALLY: Holy cow Been, what’s with all the questions? Are you high?

    BEENA: Hey Wally, Go fuck yourself you Eddie Haskell cock-sucking loser faggot. I don’t need your bullshit big brother advice. As a matter of fact YOU’RE FIRED! Get the fuck out! NOW!

  7. chuck says:

    Luv dem dialoggs
    BEENA: *on phone, 3AM, ring…ring…ring…ring…ring…ring…ring…ring…”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Uh…, hel…, hello.”

    BEENA: “Chuck, fuck those jazz musicians, I am booking nothing but Boy Bands for the next year. Big news, you got it first, fuck Fox 4 News and Kathy Quinn!”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Who is this? What time is it?

    BEENA: “Goddamnit Chuck, its me, Beena!”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Don’t call me Chuck!”

    BEENA: “This is big news Chuck, I am gonna get Bobby Brown on the phone as soon as I hang up with you and change the entertainment landscape forever in Kansas City!!”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Do NOT call me fuckin Chuck! Wait a minute. You have Bobby Brown’s phone number? Sure, of course, that makes sense.”

    BEENA: “Bobby and I have similar interests, you know, music and all that…”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Am I awake?”

    BEENA: “Your winning baby, your winning!”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Do NOT call Bobby Brown for ANY reason Beena.”

    BEENA: *singing now* “…but when I get your call, I’m all choked up, I can’t believe you called my home.”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Hey, I’m gonna give ya Kathy Quin’s number. I am going on vacation.”

    BEENA: “Brilliant Chuck, just brilliant! I will take all of her servers over at Las Palmas! Will you go with me?”

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Bobby Brown is there, isn’t he?”

    BEENA:

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “Goddamnit Beena!”

    BEENA: “Your fired!” *click*

    CHARLES FERUZZA: “jumps out of bed* “I gotta call Shelton, get Jack on the phone and get the fuck outta here!”

    BEENA: *turning to Bobby, summons a demon from under her curls* “Sing for me Bobby, NOW.”

    ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

    Heh, heh….

    If you don’t think, with all the drama and news goin on at Jardines, that it isn’t the most interesting and dynamic venue in KC right now, then you just like being bored.

    The place fuckin rocks!

  8. harley says:

    this is karma hernia
    could they be going after you and your friends because of what you reported on this site?
    Could they be going after you to get even?
    Could this be the first of many stories trageting you and your frat brothers?
    Could this be payb ack.
    I would not doubt it. But as I said in my previous comments you have created a firestorm with
    your recent reporting.
    I’m thinking that paybacks can be hell.
    I’m thinking that this could be a very tough time for you and your cohorts.
    You chose some very uneven reporting and i think it could come back to haunt you.
    Probably better to batten down the hatches…i’m not in the know on this situation but
    theres gonna be a perfect storm coming at ya…
    get your umbrealla. Thats my advice for what its worth. Not a final statement…just from what
    i’VE SEEN AND READ in the market….you stireed up a hornets nes!

  9. harley says:

    hernia…
    230,000 people saw that story. It followed x factor and got huge numbers last night. Don’t know if it will affect
    busiiness for your girl friend but that kind of publicity is not good.
    She probably needs a disaster management pr team or have glaze go in and show her how to handle
    this situation.
    Too bad…because there are now employees and managers who will get hit.
    I imagine glaze may be next.
    I warned you.
    Now…rebut my assertions…and we’ll see what happens.
    Wait til the big boys open up….

  10. harley says:

    hernia…your defensive writing try to answer everyone
    who goes after you is not working.
    You need to go back to being a society gossip columnist.
    Your attempts to be a reporter have fallen short.
    I hope you take my advice because the more you atagonize your
    enemies the more they will come at you.
    A good pr firm would help you and jardines and tell you that you need
    to move on quickly. Because the forces that are foming against you
    now have very very strong ability to reach out to the community.
    I would suggest cleaning up this site…bringin toit real writers…real
    reporters…not these friend of you who are now getting you in trouble.
    I think ropertoooooeeee had some ideas. You need to really clean this
    up….because the storm may be coming sooner than you thought.
    take care. hope things work out…
    your favorite commentator..harley

  11. mark smith says:

    Im still on my first cup of java
    But, what the fuck is harley talking about? Anybody?

  12. Hearne Christopher says:

    Fox 4 News is SUPPOSED to play it straight news, dude. They’re not writing a column or blogging. It’s stated mission is straight reporting. Yet on its 10 p.m. news last night there were only two former Jardine’s servers picketing out of like six and they described it as “a group of former Jardine’s employees.”

    Two of six, plus friends. That’s reporting?

  13. Hearne Christopher says:

    Don’t ask me

  14. Skeptic says:

    “while failing to get the club’s side of the story.” REALLY?
    Beena went on camera and talked to Fox 4 but would not answer any of their questions. She gave a PR quote about the club being her life, etc.
    BTW, assault is assault no matter the size of the person, no matter how small, to paraphrase Dr. Suess.

  15. Hearne Christopher says:

    They’ve been banging this story for nearly two weeks without getting the other side. Not just last night.

    And by the way, the way to get someone to talk isn’t to ambush them on camera while incorrectly reporting that a group of former employees are outside picketing. Two out of like six. You have to talk to the person off camera first. That said, like you I wasn’t there so I don’t know what questions were asked.

  16. Skeptic says:

    Why do Intern’s questions about the musicians keep getting deleted? Just wondering. Didn’t seem inflammatory.

  17. Hearne Christopher says:

    The only musician I know who got caught up in this was Dave Stephens who – by not cashing his check for a week – has the misfortune of it not clearing after the account number was changed to prevent the former general manager from writing any checks after he resigned.

  18. siddhartha says:

    heres the 1 side of the story that counts
    Hearne, none of the recent employees, musicians, or protestors are getting their info from fox or kcc or nbc. They are getting the most relevant infor from dealing with that wicked witch of the east. No musicans will play there. What does this tell ya? It tells me u r badly out of touch with reality!

  19. harley says:

    fox 4 doing another story tonight…
    saw it..they’re doing a storry onjardines at 6/9/10pm…wow…this is getting
    repetitive…what now…it cnat get any worse for the people there…i’m guessing theyre
    going after the real story of stuff happening in the restaurant…there might be
    people who want to put it out of business….but this is overkill….

  20. mark smith says:

    Ok, I’ve downed my morning pot O coffee
    And I still have no idea what harley was talking about. That said, I’ve been trying to figure out who Beena reminds me of, and it’s finally dawned on me. Al Jarreau. She looks just like him in the face. except she appears to have a decent pair of store bought sweater puppets. Or one of those wonder bras that double as flotation devices. I mean that in a totally flattering way, sort of. What she doesnt look like is evil incarnate, which seems to be what her detractors want to make her out to be. Let he who has never powdered his nose cast the first rock. I have to side with the Hearnester on this one. When did a tiny jazz club with employee issues become news worthy of as much local coverage as this thing has recieved?

  21. Hearne Christopher says:

    Bingo. There’s an untold story here and against my better judgment I’m just about to tell it

  22. Hearne Christopher says:

    There’s an untold story on this, H Man

  23. Hearne Christopher says:

    Out of touch, Oh Wise One?

    I’ve got more “touch” going on here than I can stand. I’m the man who knows too much. And trust me, I’m paying the price – at least in the comments section – less so among the tens of thousands of KCC readers.

    This is one very weird, complex and convoluted soap opera. Truth of the matter here is that pretty much nobody’s hands are fully clean in this story. The servers and managers from two years ago know what I know. They know what I had to put up with and I know what they had to put up with.

    I also am familiar with pretty much everyone but the new servers’ indiscretions. And that’s probably why they’re not returning my calls. The end game? Who knows? But this is about as messy a deal since the KKFI Revolt of several years back.

  24. Orphan of the Road says:

    Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
    When I was writing for a weekly motosports newspaper I wrote what a friend of mine, a racer, had said to me about a new rider. My friend came up and told me his grandfather was a boxer and never had a friend who was a reporter. He said he should have listened to his grandfather. I’d caused a mini-fire-storm with a simple, what I thought was a compliment by an experienced rider to a rookie. So I understand that feeling.

    The bar business is like no other, throw in music and you’ve got the best of times and the worst of times. Sounds like it wasn’t a very tight ship, the owner has an inflated ego (that’s a surprise with folks in the entertainment business, eh?) and poor managerial skills.

    Look forward to the rest of the story, where ever it might appear.

  25. viceroy says:

    a pretty undramatic question-
    Any word on whether or not Beena DID pay servers and musicians yesterday as she intended?

  26. siddhartha says:

    $
    Good question viceroy! The answer is NO!
    And now queen raja is calling musicians at 4AM in binge fueled tyrades screaming at them on the phone (wed am)

  27. Hearne Christopher says:

    Good question. Finally got hold of her and the manager did submit figures to her yesterday for the staff payoffs. However, he still retains one form that she needs to confirm the amounts and is waiting to hear back from him today.

    That’s the latest.

  28. paulwilsonkc says:

    Hearne, Im going to say this ONE more time:
    Dave Stephens is a friend of mine. I talk to him with regularity. This is first person, not rumor. 1. His bank told him a Stop Payment was placed on his check. Thats a PROACTIVE action on behalf of Beena that comes with a charge to her for the bank having done so. 2. This was not a result of her changing an account number, it was a Stop Payment. His bank told him it was a Stop Payment 3. If it was merely a acount change, she would have resissued a check to Dave for the amount owed. She did not, she has not. 4. There is not confusion over what she owes him, no meeting with an attorney needed, no follow up phone calls going unreturned. The amount she owes him is the amount of the check she stopped payment on. If it was an accident, it would have been repaired by now, made right with Dave. It has not. 5. He asked her for payment at 4:00am night before last when she called him. Prior to that, he issued written instructions to her on how to wire the money to him, provided her addresses for how to send it Western Union. He did everything but provide a car and driver to come get her and take her there.

    I’ll drop discussion of all other monies owed ANYONE. I will credit her with not having the SLIGHTEST idea what she owes KCP&L, food vendors any OTHER servers or Jim. So, for the sake of this story… she is truely clueless. She MUST have all the OTHER peoples assistance if they want their money. Im willing to conceed those servers are being totally uncooperative at this point. OK? Im good with that. Shes begging to pay them off, they are making her life hell and refusing her money. OK?

    This story is wearing thin. If the money was there to pay Dave when the original check was written, it would still be there. If she had integrity, had to change account numbers for her own protection, I undersstand that, it happens all the time in this type business. But, if thats what happened, the first phone call should have been to Dave to warn him of what she had to do and reissue a check. There are no remaining unanswered questions when it comes to Dave. I can’t imagine what your excuse for her is on that. Its not the old 2 week window excuse, she negated that by saying her check book is out and ready. She WANTS to PAY UP!! She hasn’t paid him.

    Oh, and as for Dave not cashing the check for a week, he lives in Newport Beach! He was out here for the holidays with family. A week blows by before you know it if you spend time with friends and family, return to Newport, weekend hits, then you get to the bank. Am I senseing you feel Dave is somehow to blame with his tardy deposit? Bad Dave, NO CHECK for you, TWO YEARS!! I am, however, hoping you are right. I owe a large check to Wells Fargo the 26th of this month. Im going to write it and in the memo line add, “If you idiots at Wells Fargo let this slide for a week, the deals OFF!! You had your chance, you waited a WEEK! You can go screw yourself now!! You should have gotten it deposited EARLIER, I had MONEY there THEN, dirt balls!

    Hearne, its getting old. It would be great to hear you day….. “You know what people, on the Dave Stephens issue, shes looking a little thin. She knows what she owes him, she HAS talked to HIM on the phone… yet…. he’s not been paid. Whats up with that?” But no, you’re going to have some reason, like, Man, Dave sure waits a long time to do his deposits, sucks to be him!! Truth be known, didnt matter when he deposited it, it had a STOP PAYMENT PUT ON IT. It had nothing to do with an account change, period. At least accept some of the facts that dont fit in your Beena mold. This one has no other excuse, even if you want to let all the others off the hook.

    Like I said before, I’d love to have a friend like you…. because I sure dont! You’re willing to overlook facts, first hand accounts and anything of merit for the sake of defending your friend and endanger your own reputation in the process. That, my friend, is a friend. A short sighted one, maybe, but certainly a friend.

    And lastly, the news stations are reporting this as a result of a news lull. Funny, Ive seen Whacking Baby Seal protests and far less substaintial causes for protests at the Horse fountain get camera time on local news when there are less than a handful of goofballs carrying signs, asking you to honk if you love Jesus or are opposed to the cause dejur. This has more merit than those, not that I want any baby seals whacked.

  29. Mulder says:

    The truth is out there
    I am just glad Fox 4 is doing another report on this tonight, so we can finally get to the bottom of this, learn the truth, Enquiring minds want to know….

    PS
    after we clear up the curious caes of Jardines, can we get to work on why crossroadskc is such a fucking dump? Why it is that place does not even provide running water real toilets in the heart of the city? How does that shithole crossroadskc get away with having porta potties in a licensed bar? Stinky over flowing porta potties in the city at a permanent location? WTF? Who at the city are they paying off?

  30. paulwilsonkc says:

    Today: Fox 4 Falls for Phoney Picket Photo Op
    Im sorry! This just struck me. What, pray tell, is a PHONEY picket? If people show up, with a cause, carry signs, demonstrate, isnt that a picket? I don’t have a Funk and Wagnells on my desk, so I turned to my handy, dandy free on line dictionary. Here’s what it says about what a “picket” is:

    a. A person or group of persons stationed outside a place of employment, usually during a strike, to express grievance or protest and discourage entry by nonstriking employees or customers.
    b. A person or group of persons present outside a building to protest.

    At no time does it qualify it any deeper than that. It doesnt say they all have to be employees. It doesn’t say, “its a picket if it passes the Hearne sniff test for validity”. Its nothing more than a group of like minded people supporting a cause of taking a stand against one. What I saw on the news, as a group of people, some employees, some friends and associates, all supporting a common cause, with good cause, I might add. What…. other than your disagreement with them, makes it “phoney”? This just gets worse and worse, Hearne. You dont like what they are doing, you’re tired to the attacks on your friend. I get that! But now, as a result of your perspective on the situation, the picket is….. phoney? I’m going to Google “phoney picket” and see what I come up with.

  31. paulwilsonkc says:

    I need to correct myself;
    Dave depostied his check 4 days after it was given to him.
    In my previous comments I was simply accepting your account of the story that he had waited a week to deposit it was accurate. It was not. Maybe you should seek out some info from the other side too, once in a while. It’s really pretty easy to do.

  32. Jesse Reed-Schall says:

    Just thought I’d take a second to clear Davids name. He didn’t need to call any of us because he has been speaking to each one of us in person on numerous occasion since this all started going down. So I’d say he has a pretty clear idea of where we are coming from. But Hearn, I must ask you, which “staffers” did you attempt to contact? I know of one, but you didn’t actually report anything he said. I certainly wasn’t one of them. And I would have been a good one too, since I am, according to Beena, one of the only ones who was actually fired. But I never heard from you. Where’s the love, man? Remember that time I waited on Yo-Yo Ma, and you grilled me for several minutes regarding his drink choices? We laughed and laughed…it was totally awesome. I miss those days…

    Come on. You are stating things as fact that you only heard from Beena. And there are so many untrue things said by her that I don’t even know where to begin. It is REALLY obvious you don’t care what is true and what isn’t, so I won’t bother pointing any of it out. I’d rather you didn’t completely ruin your credibility, but sometimes the people we love hurt themselves and theres nothing we can do about it. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

    Anyway, the reason I’m posting here at all, (as for some reason, Beena prefers this method of communicating with us, which I find both awkward and creepy, but whatev) is so I can provide an official response from the so-called “Jardines 15”. Ahem:

    We know for a fact that the GM surrendered all the records he had to Beena before he left. She knows exactly how much we are owed. If not, she certainly has all the information she needs to figure it out. We haven’t played games since this whole thing started, and we do not intend to start now. Give us what we are owed and we will go away. If she wants to pay us, we will be outside of her establishment tonight. We will be the ones holding up signs. See you there.

  33. harley says:

    Is Hearne fanning the fire?
    Hearne…stop writing about this thing. You’ve done damage by getting fox 4 after her because of you.
    Let your friend handle it herself. She’s a big girl. If she has the money..pay it. If not…make arrangements
    to get it paid off over time. Stop causing this woman problems.
    Stop writing articles about this. Let it go…you’ve already become a devil to many people in this town.
    why do this and continue to cause the story to stay alive. Once you drop it…porably the stations will too.
    the damage cause has been incredible…and even though i don’t agree with the lady she’s handled this
    entire situation poorly.
    Beenie…shut up and close down til this blows over. Noone but the media will be there tonite to
    cover this continuing story…it does you no good to give them more gas to throw on the fire.
    Move on and get hernia away from you now.

  34. Hearne Christopher says:

    You’re right, it is easy to do. However Dave opted not to return my calls.

    It’s also pretty easy to look at the day it was given him and the day Jardine’s manager resigned and thus the account was closed and do the math from there. Also it could have taken a day or three for it to hit the account which was closed.

    Either way, it’s of little consequence what exact day who did what. I’ll wager he wishes he’d deposited as soon as he got it though looking back. And I suspect Raja does as well.

  35. Hearne Christopher says:

    Harley, if only you knew. There’s a reason Fox 4 is after Jardine’s and when you learn what it is, you’ll know it wasn’t me. Ever wonder why the other stations treated this matter so lightly?

  36. Hearne Christopher says:

    I think Jim still has something that she needs, Jesse.

    He did give her the figures, yesterday I think, but she needs to see one more document I am told. Hey, I don’t know – I’m like you. It feels weird being a go-between in a matter that I have nothing to do with other than trying to keep people informed (to the extent that I can) as to what is going on.

    Good luck.

  37. Hearne Christopher says:

    Only two out of six pickets were ex Jardine’s staffers. Now here’s the quote from Fox 4’s 10 p.m. news:

    “That opinion was not shared by a group of former Jardine’s employees who gathered outside the bar to protest the reopening.”

    Ya think they would have run the footage on the news if only the two servers had been picketing?

  38. Lance The Intern says:

    Why?
    Do you keep deleting my comments? You wrote:
    “…And she says she’s willing to bury the hatchet with the bands that betrayed her and hope for better days ahead..”

    Your words — I assume they’re an indirect quote from Beena. I’m asking you – who are the bands that betrayed her?

    Blocking my IP address was the height of douchebaggery, BTW. If you have a problem with the question I’m asking, address it (and me).
    If anyone else gets a chance to read this before Hearne deletes it, please repost.
    Thanks,
    Lance the Intern

  39. Friend of the 15 says:

    Phoney?
    I was there for about an hour last night, to support my friends and their ex-coworkers. I held a sign that didn’t call myself unpaid, an ex-worker, or a member of the “15”. Anyone that stopped to talk to us mainly talked to the ex-workers, and those of us who were never employed there explained how we were connected to those involved, whether it was a roommate, friend, or boy/girl-friend. I can only say this for the time that I was there, which was not very long, as I also work in the service industry.
    Although I know many of the “15”, the Jardine’s issue is important to me because it could easily happen to many people in the service industry. You feel like your coworkers are your family and will stay in bad working conditions because you know if you leave, it will negatively affect the place of business and the people that you care about who continue to work there.

  40. paulwilsonkc says:

    Please stop parsing words, Hearne
    Once again, you know this. The affiliation of the people picketing is of little consequence. People picket because they have a strong feeling about an issue. No where in the International Book of Picketing does it state the only legitimate picketers must be employees of said establishment. If there wasn

  41. Hearne Christopher says:

    The “International Book of Picketing,” huh?

    Maybe not. But when somebody calls up a station and says, “Hey, come watch us picket” and there’s only two people, that’s bad TV. Now if and when it takes on a life of its own, like ending the Iraq War, that’s one thing.

    But when two servers press their close friends into service and it’s still only six people, that’s pretty flimsy. The affiliation of the people is very much of consequence in a news story. Especially if two thirds of them are ringers only there to make it halfway palatable for the TV news crews to send a camera.

  42. Friend says:

    huh?
    Although the term ringer still doesn’t fit, at least you stopped calling us scabs.
    [w-m.com]
    ringer – “(1) : one that enters a competition under false representations”
    There definitely were no false pretenses. Some couldn’t make it because they have families and other obligations. Others were taking or studying for finals. These are people trying to continue their lives and also recoup their losses. Losing another $300+ by failing a final and a college course would not help their situation. I never told anyone that I was employed at Jardine’s because I wasn’t. If there was a mistake with the news story, that shouldn’t be put on us.
    scab- “(1) : a worker who refuses to join a labor union (2) : a union member who refuses to strike or returns to work before a strike has ended (3) : a worker who accepts employment or replaces a union worker during a strike (4) : one who works for less than union wages or on nonunion terms”
    That definitely did not describe us, but possibly the new workers inside (minus the unions).
    I made my previous comment while trying to stay more neutral. I have not slung around stories like many others. I simply take offense to the way you have reacted and the (technically incorrect) name-calling.

  43. paulwilsonkc says:

    International Handbook of Picketing?
    Humor

  44. Hearne Christopher says:

    It pretty funny. Paul. I’ll give you that

  45. why do you try to make every little thing a huge issue? says:

    That’s cute that you want people to think you have some terribly exciting story to release, but you’re full of shit. I thought you were familiar with the media business? Then you should know that the phone number for a news station desk is a public number. It goes to the desk and ANYONE WITH A PHONE can say they think they have a story. It is then the person at the desk and producer’s decision of whether or not it is newsworthy. Your next major flaw was failing to realize that Fox 4 only started covering the story because Channel 41 had started coviering it extensively 2 days before. This is a human interest piece, and although your selfish ass obviously couldn’t give two shits about the immense money issues and misfortunes all invoved are experiencing right now, a great deal of Kansas City does. You must have stopped watching the stories when they aired because I distinctly remember the reporter say they had tried to contact Beena (on and off the camera) in various ways and she refused to say anything at all. This is a very tight knit community. There are still, surprisingly, some good people out there that don’t hate you. Don’t make the mistake of slandering their completely uninvolved name.

  46. Hearne Christopher says:

    You don’t believe in free and creative use of language?

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