Sunday update

Driving to Emmanuel I felt I really wanted to go to St Mark's Methodist, and give Louise and family my condolences about Cecil.   Went to Emmanuel and asked Fr Bill if someone else would read the prayers.   He was very understanding and someone who knew Cecil (although actually everyone in Shawnee knew him) said she didn't mind.

I haven't done a lot today.  The highlight has been a group call on Skype with Tim and Jeremy and briefly seeing precious grand daughters.    A bit of needlework.   Got back to updating the loose leaf address book, and that has been my day.

I am assuming there are still wars and armed conflicts going on in the world, but all the news here the last few days has been rioting in Missouri.  Perhaps the news anchors are glad of a change.

An 18 year old black teenager was shot by a white police officer.   And all the black pastors and rabble rousers (did you know, by the way, there is now a Martin Luther King III,  it was the first time I've seen him, but I am not sure that he was rabble rousing, I had to leave the room and didn't see him again).    There is however another little black Baptist pastor and civil rights activist,  who inserts himself into every racial conflict and takes the lead in rabble rousing.

But I digress...................

The facts of the incident are still a bit cloudy but what has been established is that said teenager robbed a store.   There is video footage of it, and no one any longer is doubting the veracity of it as the stolen items were on the body of the teenager.    The white policeman was unaware of the robbery when he shot the unarmed teenager - and here the details become a bit uncertain.  It is said that the teenager and his friend were walking down the middle of the road holding up the traffic, which is when the police officer got involved, and it certainly appears that he used unnecessary deadly force.   That is what seems to have been established, everything subsequent to that is speculation.

Harking back to the video footage of the robbery there is loud condemnation by the rabble rousers because it was released, accusing those responsible of assassinating the character of the teenager.  But my view is that the teenager assassinated his own character when he robbed the store.

I am in agreement with the chief rabble rouser when he said he wants Congress to stop programs (sic)  that provide military-style weaponry to police departments.    Coming from a country of police officers who don't routinely even carry hand guns, I have a problem with any weapons they are carrying, military-style or otherwise.

At the moment it is looking that the police officer is in deep trouble for using unnecessary deadly force........ but we shall just have to see how it all plays out.