Comments

1

Hmmm...

Shorter version, he had the money, she wanted the money, so she sold to him and now hope desperately that no one write to the liquor and cannabis board and derails this deal

Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board
Licensing and Regulation
P.O. Box 43098
Olympia, WA 98504-3098
New application #350217 for Mecca Cafe, 526 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

2

takeaway;
If you want someone who assaults you to pay for it report the crime to the police in a timely manner.

3

Better shorter version:

A private business deal that is not a matter for public consumption.

4

“Research shows that false allegations of sexual assault are rare, occurring between an estimated 2 and 10 percent of the time,”

That’s not “rare,” that’s actually pretty common, which is disturbing for such a serious accusation. (Ask Rolling Stone...)

The Stranger has been abusing this statistic because it can’t provide any evidence for the allegations it keeps making against Meinert (and before him, against then-Mayor Murray). So, the writers peddle this false idea in an attempt to inoculate themselves against charges of rumor-mongering and smearing.

9

@3 You could not be more wrong, the state agency that oversees this ask for public input.
Plus anybody is free to not go to the Mecca for any reason they like.

10

I'm sure the number of guys who get falsely accused by that many women is zero. Where there's that much smoke, there's fire.

11

@5 The allegations against Kavanaugh were never thoroughly investigated by the FBI, so saying the FBI didn't verify them is an empty statement. As for the third allegation that Avanatti raised being false, there have been no fraud charges filed, and it is simply unsubstantiated and withdrawn at this time. More importantly, Dr. Ford's allegations have never been disproven, and Kananaugh's behavior in the face of them show that they are most likely true, and that Kavanaugh is morally and temperamentally unfit for the Federal Bench, mush less the Supreme Court. I look forward to the House impeaching him for lying under oath as soon as we have a Democratic president to replace him with someone actually qualified for the job.

12

@8: You’ve made it very clear just how thoroughly you’ve swallowed the emissions of male convicts, yes. That’s not proof of anything except your own humiliating gullibility.

My point was that abusing statistics — and language — is a poor substitute for providing actual evidence. Persons who get paid to write should know the meanings of the words they use, and 2 -10% is not “rare”.

13

I have no power to prevent sexual violence. BUt I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this hipster predator doesn't get the Mecca as his springboard for sexual assault. Email the WA liquor Control BOard and let them know what you think!
customerservice@lcb.wa.gov

14

I'm surprised the former owner of the Mecca spoke to Lester, but I'm glad she did. I was under the impression (from her statement to another blog requesting an interview) that the only person she wanted to talk to was Katie Herzog.

15

I'm waiting for the Seattle City Council will attempt to block the sale.

16

@12:

Yes, words have meaning. Let us take for example the word "rare":

"rare1
/rer/
adjective
(of an event, situation, or condition) not occurring very often.
"a rare genetic disorder"
(of a thing) not found in large numbers and consequently of interest or value.
"the jellyfish tree, one of the rarest plants on earth"

17

So a man that’s not been found guilty of any allegations purchased a business = nothing burger.

I should add: If you happen to care, remember, it’s none of your f*cking business who people choose to do business with.

18

@7: The Stranger is actually making an allegation of rape against Meinert. That is why the words “alleged rapist David Meinert” all appear, in that order, in the title of this post.

@16: So, does an event which may happen up to 10% of the total occurrences count as “rare” to you?

20

@18

Those words mean exactly the opposite of what you seem to think they mean.

The Stranger would be alleging rape only if it omitted the word "alleged" in front of the word "rapist." By including "alleged," they are explicitly telling you that they're talking about allegations, not actions, and that they do not know whether or not those allegations are true.

21

He loves his daughter. Okay. He's also a rapist. You believe he's innocent because he hasn't been proven guilty, because all guilty people are proven guilty in a court of law, right? Yeah, uh huh. It's amazing how money distorts people's concept of what is right and wrong.

I could be wrong but the Green River Killer loved (loves?) his son and he murdered girls and young women and had sex with their dead bodies. Who gives a fuck if he loves his kid?

Women also write love letters to and even marry convicted serial killers who are in prison.

Meinert already owns one shit hole in Seattle, now he owns two.

22

I disagree with much of what tensor said/implied, but to split hairs about the definition of rare is weak. For example, I believe the NIH considers diseases to be rare if they affect 1/200,000 people. Other research applications and agencies typically pin rare as 0.01% to 1%, but usually I consider less than 0.1% to be rare. Check your alpha before you further distract from the point that Meinert is an allegedly terrible man. Tensor, this ain’t a court of law; reporting unresolved allegations is part of the purpose of journalism.

23

The law still applies to those that appear to be a puke however much of a puke they may be.

WSLCB is required to notify and ask for public input anytime an establishment changes hands (because the liquor license changes) or someone applies for a new license. This isn't anything earth shattering. It's required by law. For everyone. Had he been convicted of a felony the point system would have excluded him from having a license for 10 years.

While the WSLCB is required to notify the local jurisdiction of a filed application (in this case the city) the city has no legal basis to block the sale of the business only speak to the suitability to deny the license. They're going to need a legal reason, past record with other venues, arrears in taxes, convictions and repeated violations. Uncharged allegations aren't going to be part of that. That would open the city to tremendous legal liability. Presumption of innocence and due process is required by government agencies. No so much for us regular folks.

The best way to respond is not to patronize the business and let your like minded friends know as well.

24

@21: I agree xina, but that's no reason to call the 5-Point and Mecca s##t holes.

25

@17

The law covering commerce is crammed to the brim with language that quite explicitly says that who you do business with is other people's business.

Try posting a "no negroes" sign in the window of your diner. Try selling a supercomputer to Kim Jong-un. Try selling stock tips on the companies whose boards you sit on. Hire some illegal immigrants to work in your kitchen. Send your patients to an unlicensed specialist. Pick your son-in-law as the grand-prize winner of your cereal-box sweepstakes.

We're not some anarchist nightmare like Somalia, we're a nation of laws, and you'd damn well better believe it's our business who you do business with.

26

@25 There is no legal basis for denying a liquor license based on allegations where there was no conviction let alone no charge. There is also no legal basis for denying the sale of the business or denying a business license based on allegations. Your examples aren't relevant to this case. As a private citizen you are well within your rights to not do business with anyone you don't like as long as it's not due to specific protected class issues. The city or WSLCB doesn't have legal recourse to stop the sale. If he were to determine that the climate was such that the business wouldn't be viable is about the only way this will be stopped.

27

@26

A WA liquor license can be suspended for as little as serving customers who are "apparently intoxicated." The liquor board is empowered to act on rules violations without court convictions. Depending entirely on the board's discretion, the stories of Meinart's accusers might be sufficient to justify enforcement of penalties for "apparent intoxication," or any other rules violation, depending on what those stories look like (there's a rather pertinent "lewd conduct" rule you can look up, if you're interested).

The WA liquor board, believe you me, is all up in the business of who you do business with, and they don't have to go through the courts to drop the hammer, either (the words you'll be Googling are "emergency suspension").

We are a long, long way from fucking Galt's Gulch here in WA, especially when it comes to the way we regulate booze.

28

Regarding that false rape allegation rate: It is very misleading. It's a small sample size and doesn't include unsubstantiated cases.

"The determination that a report of sexual assault is false can be made only if the
evidence establishes that no crime was committed or attempted. This determination
can be made only after a thorough investigation. This should not be confused with
an investigation that fails to prove a sexual assault occurred. In that case the investigation would be labeled unsubstantiated. The determination that a report is false
must be supported by evidence that the assault did not happen."

29

So, from that, we can conclude: The determination that a report is TRUE
must ALSO be supported by evidence that the assault DID happen.

31

@19, @20: You’re missing the point.

If The Stranger did not believe in Meinert’s guilt, this post would not exist. There is no reason for The Stranger to demand the owner “explain” why she sold her establishment to someone who The Stranger believes to be not guilty of any crime.

If Meinert is not qualified to buy a new establishment, then how is he qualified to own an existing one? Have our liquor laws a “grandfather clause” for rapists?

If he’s found guilty of rape — which is, you know, a crime — in a court of law, then we’ll make him serve his time and afterwards abide by whatever restrictions our laws have upon the actions of convicted felons. Trying to (ab)use our liquor laws as a substitute for actual justice makes a farce of both.

33

Punkazz will get the license, the liquor board is historically corrupt. Seattle can just not go there.
Picketing the place is a better solution.

35

@3 is correct. What's Meinert supposed to do, move into a homeless encampment and die?

"Cafe owner" is not a meaningful public platform from which someone should/could be cancelled from. Arguably, the right to own real property is more sancrosanct than than the right to free speech; but in any case, we don't have a King in this country, we have judges and juries, and until they proclaim him guilty, he has as many rights as anyone else..

36

@18:

I'll answer by asking another question: is a steak cooked 10% of the way though rare or not?

37

@1, @6, @13: So, how goes your effort to disrupt the retirement plans of a hard-working grandmother? Smell the justice!

@22; This isn’t journalism, it’s busybodyism, and when writers play games with the words they use, that’s a huge red flag about their intentions. (George Orwell had quite a bit to say on the topic of redefining words for political purposes.)

@36: If you can’t or won’t answer my question, just admit it. It’s far more embarrassing to claim you simply can’t comprehend how a common, one-syllable word has different meanings in different contexts.

38

@31 I believe the owner actually specifically requested to give an interview to The Stranger because she admired Katie Herzog.

39

@27 I've got direct, first hand experience in the operation of venues serving liquor in the state and specifically Seattle. Until there is documented evidence they don't have legal recourse to deny the license. They could deny it but it would certainly go before an administrative hearing and possibly a lawsuit. AFAIK the person in question is a current WSLB license holder and if there is no impact on his current license there won't be one here.

To defend against predators we need to foster an environment where our young women and girls aren't intimidated to come forward. Right now there is much more for them to lose than there is in their perception as a gain. They feel helpless and are vilified like some of the posts in this thread. Until we address the rape/assault culture in our society particularly with regards to law enforcement as well as victim blaming these sort of things will continue to happen. It starts with how we raise our boys and young men to treat girls and women as equals and not objects. We've come a long way since I was raised in the 60s but we've got a long, long way to go.

40

@36

If 2-10% of airliners crashed each day, would plane crashes be a 'rare event?


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