The "Show Listing Tools Area" switch at Admin Panel -> Settings -> Switches controls whether the listing bit shows all of the tool links to vote, comment, email, etc. With the switch on, all those listings appear. With it off, they disappear.

The "Show Listing Tools Area" switch should normally be on if "Indirect Linking" is off, because otherwise there'd be no way for the user to reach all those pages. If indirect linknig is on, however, they can click through to the details page to find the same options. In that case, it's just a matter of personal prefernce whether you find the listing tools links to be useful or clutter.

Note that the hits count is also in the listing tools area in the standard template. If you want more fine-grained control, go to Admin -> Themes -> Manage Templates -> Listing Bit and search for {SWITCH_LINKTOOLS} to find the area.