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Posts Tagged ‘Demonstrations’

How About Some Respect

January 5th, 2015 No comments

I wish many things for 2015, but one in particular is “Respect for others.”  The basic concept of respect covers a large spectrum of subjects; I am mentioning only a few in hopes that my comments will stimulate your thinking.  Perhaps together we can come up with a list of things we all need to do to help make respect for others more prevalent in 2015.

 

In my opinion respect for others starts in the home with young children.  Parents need to teach and practice respect for themselves and other members of the family.  I am appalled at how some parents talk to their children and allow their children to speak to them.  I witness some parents and children shouting at one another, and sometimes using foul language.  This is teaching disrespect that goes far beyond the family.  Parents need to teach children early on how to disagree with another person without shouting and yelling and name-calling. Read more…

Ferguson

December 11th, 2014 No comments

It is not my intention to take sides one way or the other on the decision of the grand jury relating to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, by Darren Wilson, a police officer.  My purpose here is to clear up some misunderstandings and incorrect information.

 

The national news media have, for the most part, portrayed Ferguson as a small town located in the distant suburbs of St. Louis.  Traveling by surface roads, Ferguson is about 1.5 miles from the City of St. Louis. 

 

St. Louis County is a large county: 524 square miles, consisting of ninety municipalities and ten unincorporated census-designated areas, with a total population of 1,001,500 people.  The City of St. Louis is a county in itself and, therefore, is not included in St. Louis County.  The City of Ferguson is one of the larger municipalities in St. Louis County, consisting of 6.2 square miles with a population of slightly over 21,000 people.

 

There has been much criticism of the county prosecutor’s decision to announce the results of the grand jury at night.  The New York Times (11/26/14, p. A24) described it as a “reckless” decision because “darkness placed the law enforcement agencies at a serious disadvantage as they tried to control the angry crowds . . .”  Read more…