Wednesday evening, and into the wee hours of Thursday morning, I watched the news from Charlotte, mostly on MSNBC, occasionally clicking over to CNN.
A couple of criticisms of the cable TV news coverage come to mind: Continue reading
Half of the 235 people arrested during disorder on the streets of Baltimore on Monday night have been released without being charged with a crime, The Baltimore Sun has reported. Read The Sun story here. Apparently, paperwork on many of the arrests could not be found. Continue reading
BALTIMORE SUN PHOTO
Baltimore Orioles-Chicago White Sox game is being played to an empty stadium in Camden Yards Wednesday afternoon. Game closed to public after trouble in the streets on Monday and Tuesday. For more breaking news, see BaltimoreSun.com
Anyone who isn’t familiar with Baltimore will need some background and perspective to even begin to understand the troubled story unfolding there. The protests and unrest in the city stem from the arrest and death in custody of Freddie Gray, who was buried Monday. But the underlying grievances have a long history. Continue reading
Regarding Monday’s unrest in Baltimore, most of us should take time to think before we speak. I live in Maryland, but not in Baltimore. Let’s listen first to the voices of the residents and elected leaders of Baltimore. Continue reading
The local weekly newspaper, The Maryland Coast Dispatch, published a long interview with Ocean City Police Chief Ross Buzzuro, beginning on page 8 in the Aug. 30, 2013 edition. It’s well worth a read.
Chief Buzzuro’s comments on one particular issue touched a nerve with me:
“We talk about beer bongs, underage drinking, explicit T-shirts and there are still merchants that sell knives. Why does anyone need to sell knives on the Boardwalk? They are not Swiss Army knives by the way, just for clarification.”
John Hayden photo
Tom Wolfe’s tour of contemporary America continues in “Back To Blood.”
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Like Wolfe’s other blockbusters — The Right Stuff, Bonfire Of The Vanities, and A Man In Full — Back To Blood focuses on Men and Manhood in the big cities of modern America. Wolfe has vividly portrayed New York City and Atlanta. This time, the setting is Miami.
In Back To Blood, Wolfe writes about Real Men doing Real Work for the Right Reasons. The heroes are policemen, followed closely by newspapermen. Not a single female police officer or reporter in sight. Not exactly a politically correct portrayal of contemporary America!
Nestor Camacho is a young Cuban cop, intelligent and without guile, self-effacing and polite, god-fearing, muscular. Continue reading
Note: An interesting discussion — mostly about mental health issues — follows this brief post.
It’s nearly a week now since the tragic shooting and loss of innocent life in Connecticut. Like many, I’m hesitant to write about this most recent mass murder out of respect for the families, and because so much information is unknown.
Two observations stand out, however, regarding television news coverage:
First, a great deal of speculation has been aired about mental illness. Never before have the words “autism“ and “Asperger’s” been spoken so often on television in such a short time. It’s probably misleading to even classify autism and Asperger’s as mental illnesses, at least not without clarification. They certainly should not be associated with conditions such as Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. I’d wager that many people are hearing about Asperger’s Syndrome for the first time, and half-baked information is apt to create an undeserved stigma for both autism and Asperger’s. Continue reading
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 