If mayors need advise for improvement of their cities they can look US Senator Booker.

I realize Senator Booker has a lot to do in DC, but, he is looking to change sentencing guidelines. He was very successful in Newark, New Jersey and it didn't take a lifetime to do it. Newark is a different city today. Baltimore needs to move to a place where young black men are not killed and face a judge for anything they have done wrong. 

CURRENTLY, BALTIMORE DOES PRACTICE DUE PROCESS. That is a problem. 

We are witnessing a great people of Baltimore. We know they exist and we knew they existed before. I am pleased the mood of the city is far more improved from yesterday. There is every reason to believe the citizens of Baltimore have reclaimed their streets. I hope any one who disregards the importance of a neighborhood are taking a lesson from these citizens and their children.

I have heard a great deal today from those same people. It is right for the mayor to make example of the community's response. Absolutely. There are sincere problems. Young men are being killed by Baltimore cops. The community, even children, are complaining about the blight they suffer. The mayor needs to have regular Town Halls with this community. But, the deaths are heinous and have to stop. They are young men hidden behind the walls of a police van and exposed to violence that kills them. ENOUGH! 

Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, both D-N.J., will be meeting New York’s U.S. Senators and others to discuss flood insurance complaints after superstorm Sandy during the first meeting of the Sandy Task Force Tuesday afternoon.(Photo: Staff photo/Nicole Guadiano)

April 28, 2015

By Russ Zimmer

Inadequate payouts (click here) from their flood insurance provider is a common complaint among those whose homes were inundated by the storm's surge. Sandy victims who felt wronged by their providers — whose plans are underwritten by the NFIP — got a major boost when evidence surfaced of a potentially widespread and highly questionable practice of changing a key insurance document without justification.
New Jersey's U.S. Senators Menendez and Cory Booker and their counterparts in New York, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, all Democrats, are pledging to examine those issues and others in their roles as members of the Sandy Task Force, which also includes Craig Fugate, the head of FEMA....

Civil Rights are unfamiliar to the students in Baltimore.

If there is a lack of understanding by students regarding the civil rights movement there needs to be curriculum to speak to those realities. Why isn't that being covered in a history course. I am sure the school system can purchase the film Selma to keep in the library so teachers have access to it. 

There is no hard and fast rule that peaceful protests have to be boring. I think appropriate music is a good idea.

FOX News is reporting in their online article the looting is continuing as the National Guard troops arrive. Will the media please police itself. Thank you.

MSNBC states while there are a few minor issues (Which probably occurs anyway.) Baltimore has been very peaceful. It can't be both. I find the statement looting is continuing a very inflammatory statement. I think everyone in the media can recognize an inflammatory statement. Kindly help out the commmunity and report the truth. They often rely on the news media to understand their own community, especially now.

Thank you.

April 28, 2015
By Jena McGregor

Just a few months (click here) into his tenure as governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan (R) is tasked with leading his state through the riots that erupted in Baltimore on Monday. Another leader working to help quell the violence in the city is also very new to her job: Linda Singh, who is in charge of the Maryland National Guard that was called in by Hogan. She just took over the role at the end of February.

As the state's adjutant general — and the first African American and first woman to hold that role in Maryland— Singh is responsible for operations of the Maryland Military Department. She serves as a member of Hogan's cabinet and as an adviser to the governor....

All Green on Blue attacks were not Afghanistan soldiers.

The military doesn't end their search for justice until it is resolved.

Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson died of his wounds after the IED detonated near his vehicle in Iraq.

April 28, 2015

A British cab driver (click here) behind a “deadly” terror campaign against US troops in Iraq was caught after seven years of painstaking work to identify his fingerprints on roadside bombs, a court heard. 

Anis Abid Sardar is accused of being part of an insurgency cell who targeted US forces in 2007 with a bombing campaign that left one US soldier dead. 

In an “unusual trial”, Sardar was only arrested in London last year after the US authorities “painstakingly” matched his fingerprints to those found on devices recovered in the years after the Iraq war, Woolwich Crown Court heard. It is believed to be the first trial of its kind to be heard in the UK....

These communities are among the USA's most impoverished, kindly work with city governments to move them forward.

The Senior Center in Baltimore went up in flames. 

How many from the community were employed for that project?

When a public project is started in any city in the USA, there should be workers from the community hired to learn and grow competencies that will provide an income into the future. When the community is solicited to hire for the project offer them sport t-shirts for every completed application for submission to the contractor. It would be really great if the contractor was from the community, but, I would expect that to happen in time after the first workers obtain their competencies and learn how to apply for bids on projects. 

Where the application asks for any criminal record, submit it and ask for character references to mitigate the damage in reputation accumulated by a society that didn't invest as they should. 

I am sorry to hear CVS, which has medi-clinics, was burned to the ground. I wish that didn't happen. Please do not let this deter any more interest in these communities. Medical clinics are important. I hope in such challenged neighborhoods CVS has the executive insight to not sell beer, wine and cigarettes. I think CVS went cigarette free, right? So, they are moving in the right direction. I would think Baltimore would be interested in compensating the businesses that were effected by the mayhem following the death of Freddie Gray. Baltimore has a lot of reflection and policy to write that limits the free lancing justice of their police officers. I doubt businesses appreciate this type of death at the hands of police either. 

...In Maryland, (click here) we have decided to implement the Medicaid expansion.
Research just published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrates that expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income adults translates into a 6.1 percent reduction in mortality.  This research adds to a large body of evidence showing that insurance is associated with reduced mortality.  Saving lives is a compelling reason to move forward. Our Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown have placed a high priority on expanding coverage to hundreds of thousands of Maryland families and children since taking office....

Baltimore should be providing Medicaid expansion to these communities. Where an individual may not qualify for benefits, but, have medical needs about potential health concerns, the city needs to consider how to best address those fears.

City employment should reflect the demographics of the people. There needs to be supportive services to employees struggling with job performance. Some want to work, but, are demoralized (sometimes all their lives) to carry out that capacity. "Never give up" is a good 'quality assurance' for any city employee. There are rehab policies in most jobs in the country when alcohol or drugs are a part of their daily lives. However, having the money and insurance to allow for days away from work is a huge hurdle. Facilitating competency can be as complex as the individual. Hopefully, the employees have families as concerned for them as the city would be. 

The beautiful aspect of these communities is their loyalty to each other and their ability to communicate understandings about life. "Life Coaches" are the elites way of improving their job performance, that can be available to stressed communities through their leaders that have a proven track record of trust and movement toward the future well being of all that comprise that community. Frequently, that means employing church leaders to contract for mentoring services. 

"Know your value and grow it." Mika Brazinski in her ambitious agenda to promote women and their bountiful futures.

April 28, 2015
By Judith Ireland and Fergus Hunter

The United Nations organization (click here) dedicated to gender equality, UN Women, has released a damning report on the progress of women worldwide. 

Its headline findings include that women earn three-quarters of men's earnings and do almost two and a half times the domestic work.

But the report, more than 300 pages long, also contains sobering figures about what life is like for women in specific countries.... 

The woman to the right is Judith Ireland. She is holding the line on the silence regarding women and the prejudice that prevents economic prosperity in their lives and the lives of their family.

April 27, 2015
By Judith Ireland
 
Women worldwide earn only three quarters (click here) of what male workers are paid, while they do almost two and half times the amount of housework, a United Nations report has found. 
Calling for a major shakeup in global economic and social policy, "Progress of the World's Women" says that, on average, women earn 24 per cent less than men.
Women in South Asia experience the biggest pay gap, with an average of 33 per cent, while women in the Middle East and North Africa experience the smallest, with an average of 14 per cent. Along with Finland and Mongolia, Australia received particular mention in the report for being a country where the pay gap widened between 2000 and 2010. 
UN Women says that despite progress on women's rights over the past two decades, the current situation is not acceptable or understandable.

The Baltimore Mayor and Maryland Governor has not found the media helpful.

April 27, 2015

Don Lemon's interview (click here) with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday night did not end on a high note. 

Lemon spoke to the pair during a CNN segment, asking about their response to the Baltimore riots and whether they wish they would have handled the situation differently....

..."Obviously, you can see that they're touchy when it comes to the situation," he told viewers after the politicians left....

When the media has approached the criticism of the Baltimore Mayor, they offered no alternative to what should be done. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made a poor choice of words when she stated those that want to destroy were allowed space to do that. What she was saying is there would be no retribution for the violence in order to contain the actions of the violators. She and the Governor are walking a fine line in containing the violence.

The decompression of the anger spawned by the death of Freddie Gray would not occur if police SWAT teams went into areas with guns blazing. Cutting down American citizens as if a war zone is not even legal in the USA. The entire criticism is hideous.

Most of the vandalism, looting and fires are in impoverished neighborhoods to begin with. The community has huge problems. I find it unfortunate High School Students found a better voice in joining in the chaos than writing to newspapers regarding their plight.

I suppose the only positive outcome in the city is that High School students decided to remain in class until the final bell for the day. Is that progress? Perhaps, but, what kind of progress is it? 

"The Clinton's made $150 million dollars over the past decade."

Whining.

$15 million a year is nothing compared to the donors of the elections since Citizen United.

Salaries for Chief Executive Officers (click here) in the United States are generous, with average pay above six figures ($155K) per year. In the world of Chief Executive Officers, total cash compensation ranges from $72K on the lower end to $410K on the higher end; this includes bonuses that reach $131K and profit sharing that approaches $104K in rare cases, with some high rollers snagging commissions as high as $174K....