City Of Brotherly Love Under The Influence Of Fear And Anger

        An investigation has begun, in the city of Brotherly Love, because of a video tape shot by a television crew; it shows officers pulling three suspects out of a vehicle and then kicking and punching them. 

        The three suspects were involved in a shooting earlier.  Officers witnessed four suspects getting out of a vehicle earlier and shooting into a group of men.  One of the suspects got away by running from the scene.  The other three drove off and were chased by the officers and stopped.  The video shows the officers pulling them from the vehicle and beating & kicking the suspects, on Monday. 

          There has been a strong current of anxiety since Saturday when another officer was shot and killed.  The officer’s name was Stephen Liczbinski, and he was a police Sgt.   Three arrests have been made in the fatal shooting of officer Stephen Liczbinski.  That shooting set the atmosphere presumably for the incident on the video tape.  Emotions on all sides, the police department as well as the public, are inflamed.

           Officers, that were involved, are being pulled off of their regular beats during this investigation.  There are reports that as many as 15 officers could be involved in this video taped beating.  Of course, none of us know what went on before the video or after the video was filmed.  However, i think it would be very difficult to find any reason that would allow for such violent and extreme actions on the part of the officers.  If it happened the way it appears to look on tape, then it is nothing short of an abuse of power. 

          This is a horrible situation.  It damages everyone.  There will be more information released when the investigation is done…but in the meantime, it will be difficult to keep peace.

         When the trust of the police department in any city, or town is compromised; it creates nothing but anger, fear and mistrust.  This is not a good situation for the public safety or for the integrity of the police department.  

           The real shame is that this investigation is going to take some of the focus off of the officer who was shot and killed, doing his duty with honor.  Hopefully, a city that is being torn asunder will still find a way to mourn the loss of their officer, Stephen Liczbinski; and support his family.

         

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Poisoned Piercings

       For those of you considering piercing your body parts…it would be wise to heed the words of a young man who is now hospitalized with a MRSA infection.  A Missouri teen pierced his lip with an un-sterilized needle that he found in a medicine cabinet.

       A few days later he found sores on his body and was achy all over.  He has been diagnosed with an MRSA infection that is resistant to antibiotics.  The doctors have said that the infection has spread thoughout his whole body.  He wants to get the message out to others not to do what he did because of the consequences.

       Fitting in with your peers by piercing your body parts without proper medical guidance can cause more than one problem.  Unsterilized utensils can cause hepatitis, aids, or antibiotic resistent infections that can jepardize your life and your health.  Be informed and make smart decisions…if you still desire to be pierced talk to your doctor first.

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Barbara Walters-Where Is Her Dignity?

         With all of the hoopla surrounding the publication of Barbara Walter’s book called, “Audition” i have to wonder; where is her dignity?  i think she lost it somewhere between bragging on her affair with a married man approximately 20-30 years ago and dishing on the ongoing public tongue lashing of her former co-hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Star Jones.  There is so much more, i am sure, in Barbara’s memoirs but i have to wonder…with all of the truly outstanding news stories she has brought to our attention over the years…why resort to digging dirt?

        After all, the book would have been interesting enough because of some of the all time history making interviews such as Fidel Castro, Monica Lewinski, President Gerald Ford, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Rudy Giuliani former mayor of NYC  and the list goes on.  Then there are all of the famous celebrities she has interviewed over the years as well.  Some celebrities doing a PR spin on whatever scandal they were going through at the time…there would have been enough sex, drugs, violence to attract the gossipmongers to the book strickly because of some of those interviews.

        Barbara’s book would not have been short on excitement, intrigue, or interest had she concentrated strickly on those interviews and all of the behind the scenes regarding them.  I fail to see the need to tell us of her sex life and such. She is interesting in her own right just because of her childhood, her professional life, her adoption of her daughter Jackie and the famous people in and out of her life. 

          I wonder if this type of publicity buzz will have a disasterous backlash when it comes to the sale of the book; or, whether it will bring publishing to a whole new level of indigity itself.  The business of publishing has been going through it’s own destructive roller coaster over the last decade or so; regarding making a profit, plagerism, fictionalized memoirs, editors who publisher hop from one company to another; and then, the spector of how digital publishing is affecting printed publishing financially.  When dignity is for sale we all lose out. 

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