Thursday, May 14, 2009
Music news Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament robbed outside Atlanta's Southern Tracks studios
Posted by Rodney Carmichael @Rappin_Rodney on Thu, May 14, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Brendan O'Brien's production skills have attracted some of music's biggest names, including Bruce Springsteen, to record with him at Atlanta's Southern Tracks Recording studios.
Apparently, the thugs have taken note, too.
On the afternoon of April 27, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament fell victim to an attack outside Southern Tracks when the knife-brandishing suspects robbed him of $3,000 in cash, his passport, and $4,320 worth of goods, according to a Dekalb County police report.
According to the AJC:
The bassist attempted to run away but was knocked to the ground, sustaining a cut on the head that did not require hospitalization. The robbers drove off in a black Nissan Maxima.A surveillance camera captured the assault but no arrests have been made.
Pearl Jam plans to self-release the O'Brien-helmed album — which will be the Seattle band's ninth — according to Rolling Stone:
“The new record feels good so far — really strong and uptempo, stuff we can sink our teeth into,” Eddie Vedder told us. It’s the band’s first album with O’Brien behind the boards since 1998’s Yield.
Comments (19)
Showing 1-19 of 19
I am so sick of the thug culture that has taken over this city. It is not safe any where at any time for anybody to be in Atlanta. Makes me and and angry.
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You are correct Rodney, the thugs were already here. They just needed more affluent victims. Damn those gentrifiers...
Will you people stop using the word "thug". You too, rodney. Yall sound more white than my dad.
J., what term do you suggest to use when discussing a youthful, probably gang associated habitual offender who commits repeated terrible crimes against people and property, usually with his "gang associated" peers in an urban area? And unless your Dad is an albino, I probably am whiter than him. What difference does that make?
Come on, james, we all know what word you really want to use. And thats why I hate the word "thug". It's very suggestive coming from a white person. It makes me cringe.(yes, I know Rodney is black). Now lock yer doors and cling to yer guns. I'll be out enjoying this city.
That's a very poor and grossly incorrect assumption on your behalf, asserting that you know what words I want to use. Look "thug" up in the dictionary, and tell me what it means to you. And you can ask Rodney directly if he thinks I am the sort of person to use whatever "word" you are thinking of. So much for honest discourse...
some people don't believe in honest discourse. they'd rather argue over the use of the word thug than discuss the reality of thugs robbing people at gunpoint. makes it easier to ignore what's going on around them. yes, the gentrification does dring more affluent victims into the orbit of the thugs. or are we not allowed to talk about that for fear of morons cringing, lol? and don't get me started on the "sound whiter than my dad" line of illogic. how do some people find their way onto the internet?
just start popponig some caps in their "thug" asses.....that's what needs to happen
As for honest discourse, it's impossible to talk about crime in this town without talking about gentrification and it's impossible to talk about gentrification in this town without talking about race. But until the color green enters the conversation, it's all just talk. Y'all should check out this week's cover story Down on Boulevard — which covers all of the above — and start up some meaningful conversation there: http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/down_on_boulevard_positive_change_might_finally_come_to_atlanta_s_lawless_street/Content?oid=827931 I'll join you.
Rodney, the problem with bringing gentrification into the discussion is that it inevitably places some degree of "responsibility" on the victims, simply for being there. How on earth anybody can consider geographical location and habitat selection as even marginally tangible causal agents in any aspect of this exploding crime spree is reprehensible. If you can, please explain why gentrification has any bearing on the violent crimes that are being commited against honest, taxpaying poeple who have a right to live wherever they choose in this country.
wellllll, people who dare move into atlanta during the recent "gentrification" are mostly white, so there u go. they must be responsible for the violent crime against them for that reason, right?
Surely you jest? We all know the link between gentrification and crime is not a figment of my imagination. Believe me, I too would love to imagine that we live in a utopia where that link does not exist. While race and gentrification also go hand-in-hand, this isn't an issue of race as much as it is class, as I said before. I, too, have helped gentrify this city (raised in the suburb of Decatur before moving intown as an adult). And yeah, I'm black. I'm also aware of the fact that my middle class status (knock on wood) makes me a potential target in a higher crime area, such as the one we have intown. That doesn't suggest that I'm responsible for an increase in crime — there's a whole laundry list of psychological, social, political and economic failings that may or may not begin to explain why criminals perpetuate crime — BUT choosing to ignore that my decision to live intown further subjects me to all of the above isn't a progressive mindset, it's a naive one. Google crime and gentrification and you get a whole host of articles, papers and whatnot to plow through. Here are a couple, along with CL's cover story on Boulevard this week: atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/down_on_boulevard_positive_change_might_finally_come_to_atlanta_s_lawless_street/Content?oid=827931 www.nytimes.com/1989/07/08/nyregion/gentrification-and-crime-lay-siege-to-clinton.html www.fracturedatlas.org/site/blog/2008/08/28/gentrification-income-inequality-and-crime/
"We all know the link between gentrification and crime is not a figment of my imagination." I am not disputing the fact that crime inflicted upon more affluent residents is a growing problem in communities where gentrification occurs. And while I know that the process of gentrification obviously places more affluent people in the potential line of crime, it is still not an acceptable rationalization or excuse to blame the victims. It is my opinion that the main reason for the increase in violent crime across the board is due to the decrease in police presence on the streetas, delayed or no response time for 911 distress calls, incredibgly poor parenting, and increased opportunity due to the presence of more affluent individuals in intown communities. That STILL doesn't justify or rationalize the behavior of criminals. I do not want to make this a racial arguement, but take a look at the real Atlanta stats on black on black crime, and black on white crime in urban areas - BOTH have increased while white on black and white on white crime have remained fairly stable. Point is that ALL criminals are solely responsible for their crimes, NOT the new guy on the block in the intown 'hood, NOT the couple who bought the fixer-upper in a low income neighborhood, and certainly not the good citizen who just happens to walk into a bad situation where bad people are in a position to take their belongings and hurt them. When criminals are held fully responsible for their behavior regarless of gentrification and the inlux of affluence into a community, maybe things will improve. But making excuses based on sociological rhetoric and hubris doesn't help one goddamn bit. Please explain how the robbery and murder of John Henderson was a result of gentrification, and not just plain old evil?
I think your impassioned rage has blinded you from seeing that we're making similar points, here. As a result, I hesitate to engage you in real conversation because it seems that you're more interested in winning an argument than in gaining a broader perspective. But for the sake of public discourse, I'll proceed in the hope that my words are met with a measure of good faith rather than futility. First and foremost, as I clearly stated in my last comment, I do not blame victims nor have I suggested that they be held responsible for the crimes committed against them. I don't like crime any more than you do — whether it's black on black/black on white/white on white or white on black. I also think everyone has a right to chose where and how they want to live, with respect to the rights of others. What's sad and peculiar, however, is that it usually takes the robbery and senseless murder of a John Henderson (peace be upon him and the family and friends he left behind) to get everyone's attention. As long as the crime is confined to the slums and residents of the slums, it's a public nuisance at worst, invisible at best. Yet as soon as it spills across the street, there's widespread outrage. But guess what, everybody in the ghetto ain't ghetto — last week's cover story proved that. The next time you ride down Boulevard and see one of those teddy bear tributes to the deceased ascending up a telephone pole, stop and ask yourself: Where's the public outrage? Where's the overwhelming demand for increased police presence? And last but not least, How does this rampant wave of crime in such close proximity to where I live affect me? Apparently, too many gentrifiers — black, white and every other color under the sun — see no effect beyond the potential damage to property value and/or the eyesore it presents. That, in no way, makes US responsible for crime. If anything, it makes many of us irresponsible. Irresponsible for the overall well-being of the community we've chosen to call home. And that's a helluva way to live.
anyone who thinks there ISN'T "public outrage" over crime in atlanta or "demand for increased police presence" isn't paying attention. for someone to ask where these things are is kinda laughable at this point in the game.
Rodney, I know you are a level headed and intelligent man, and you are correct, I am angry. And not JUST because of what happened to John Henderson (I think that was the straw on the camel that brought everyone out roaring who was already angry). Crime in any area is wrong. Period. I moved into Cabbagetown 17 years ago, when it was a slum. Even as gentrified as it has become, victimizing crime is worse now than it was then, when we had some drug dealers, hookers, and a few crackhead burglars. There was occasional violent crime, but it was rare. Now, hardly a day goes by without someone in my general neighborhood getting broken into, robbed, or worse. My outrage has nothing to do with my concern over property values, it is my concern over the loss of freedom to hang out in my neighborhood day or night, and the right to living a safe life wherever I choose to live. With all due respect, I refuse to consider the rampant crime in Atlanta a product of anything OTHER than the bad behavior of bad people. Every criminal has a choice they make before they commit. They make the wrong choices. When that issue is dealt with appropriately either before or after the fact, crime will diminish.
Ah, another perspective on Atlanta's crime wave (or a critique on "the perception of crime wave" reasoning), from some guy named Andisheh: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/05/28/perception-of-crime-watch%c2%ae/
This crime-wave gets me so frustrated that I just want to beat somebody over the head with a baseball bat. I just want to state that I don't find the word "thug" suggestive considering there is no other word that spells it out quite like that. And I travel down Boulevard almost daily and I even notice the stuffed animals. Crime sucks, the mayor really sucks, Pennington sucks donkey balls and nothing is getting better until we have more cops out there with better tools and the judges finally start to give a shit. But this happened in Dekalb...so fuck it. Fuck it all. I'm moving to Kennesaw.
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