There are many breeds of turkeys. This is the Bourbon Red Turkey.

A veterinarian in South Carolina has decided to raise heritage turkeys and this is her story.

November 16, 2014
By Kara Bettis

...Her most (click here) recent project is the conservation of the Beltsville Small White Turkey.

"I'm out to prove that these breeds are valuable and we should hang on to them," she said. "To save them, we have to eat them."

True to its name, the Beltsville is a slender, snow-white bird that made it ideal for a clean dressing at Thanksgiving dinner. Popular in the 1940s and 1950s, the Beltsville was the nation's first turkey bred by the USDA specifically for Thanksgiving dinners because it was small enough to fit in small, apartment-sized ovens and refrigerators....

Being it is Thanksgiving I wanted to make a prayer for the Republicans in the USA.

Dear God,

I am thankful for all the wonderful time I have had on this green Earth and I want it to be longer. I am thankful for my family and the continued health of my mother. This year has been interesting, but, I need to ask a special favor. So, as long as I've got your attention I want to make this prayer for USA Republicans.

Please God, teach them to value human life. Let them put away their wars and hate and find peace and salvation in enjoying the simple pleasures of life, like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran's Benefits, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and most of all S.N.A.P. benefits so many Americans are purchasing their Thanksgiving meal with that help. 

Please God, teach USA Republicans the value of education and what it means to have a brain trust for the country. Help them to be enlightened to the benefit of unions that insure a strong Middle Class for the USA which makes Wall Street smile when Americans spend their money. 

I ask God for the very reason I am thankful for my country. The Republicans need to find you God because I am very worried if they won't find God soon in their lives; President Obama will teach them what appreciating the value of human life is with his veto pen.

Say hello to all the saints, Mary and Jesus, too.

Until next time God,

Your faithful servant

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/11/16/3817089/wake-forest-farm-is-conserving.html#storylink=cpy

What was the excuse this time?

Black boy? The caller had to be asked several times about the person's ethnic, excuse me, COLOR, "Was he black or white?" 

The police arrived and never did an assessment. Simply shot the boy who was doing nothing wrong. It was a bee-bee gun and that can cause minor injuries to human beings and I am sure some nightmare injuries, but, it wasn't a lethal weapon. 


November 26, 2014
By Rheana Murray 

The video of a Cleveland police officer (click here) shooting a 12-year-old boy who had a toy gun was released today after the department consulted with the boy's family.

Police initially withheld the video from the public while discussing handling of the disturbing footage with the family of Tamir Rice, the boy who was shot in a playground on Saturday.

"The family did not initially want the video to be released, but after reviewing it... expressed their wish to us" to make it public, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said today.

Williams urged the public and the media to be cautious in the handling of the video.

"I want people to bear in mind this is a 12-year-old boy. ... The family will have to view it over and over," he said....

All these cases have the same thing in common, police acted without any thought except their own protection when never was there a threat and it is now a civil liability case because the officers won't be charged with anything.

This is what a gun culture looks like. The society is saturated with guns and munitions and willful lifestyles, hence breeding death. One innocent life after another. At the time of Sandy Hook the body count was 30 thousand a year. 

A wave of mass shootings (click here) have occurred over the past few years, often garnering extensive media coverage. Despite those tragic attacks and the roughly 30,000 deaths by firearms that occur every year, moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS' NewsHour failed to ask the presidential candidates about gun violence during the first presidential debate, the only forum specifically dedicated to domestic policy....

In the year 2000, after Columbine, guns were an important issue. The topic garnered a great deal of time in presidential debates. As time went by the idea of including such a topic in any debate faded to the point where it disappeared off the radar. In 2000, gun violence deaths were decreasing. It has decreased since. When the President of the USA cares about the safety of the country and speaks openly about the importance of protecting children and making our streets safer, it matters.

The language and the effort has to be within our political dialogue and the louder the better. 

The phenomena being noted with race and killing of innocent people also needs to be kept in the debate. 

What is the excuse now? A couple thought Mr. Crawford was a criminal with a gun. One guess as to why that might be?

August 11, 2014

By A. R. Shaw

A 22-year-old black father (click here) was killed by police for holding a toy gun while at Walmart. According to CBS News, John Crawford, 22, went shopping with his girlfriend at a Walmart in Dayton, Ohio.

Crawford and his girlfriend went their separate ways to shop for personal items while in the store. At some point, Crawford picked up a toy BB gun and played video games while talking to his girlfriend on his cellphone.

A suspicious couple, April and Ronald Ritchie, began following Crawford. They eventually called police and told them that Crawford was walking around the store with a gun.

When police arrived at the store, they approached him from behind and told him to put the weapon down. Crawford turned and told them it was just a toy. The police officers opened fire on Crawford. He later died from his wounds....

Do I see a pattern?

The now defunct Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law in the United States that included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms it defined as "assault weapons". The 10-year ban was passed by the U.S. Congress on September 13, 1994, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton the same day. The ban only applied to weapons manufactured after the date of the ban's enactment.

The Act expired on September 13, 2004, per its sunset provision. There were multiple attempts to renew the ban, but none succeeded.

Less than a month has passed in 1994 from the passage of the assault weapons ban and the voluntary ban on toy guns by merchandisers. The leadership of President Bill Clinton brought success across the spectrum of public safety.

Columbine would occur in April of 1999. The guns shows successfully defeated the law and passed merchandise to those that would pay the price. Evidently, the gun shows did bother to understand there would be innocent people paying the ultimate price for their profiteering.

Voluntary actions by merchandisers to make life safe for children in the USA. How about that?

October 15, 1994
By Stephanie Strom

Six years ago, (click here) Toys "R" Us pulled realistic toy guns from its shelves after the police in Memphis shot and killed a 10-year-old boy who was carrying a toy gun they mistook for a Colt automatic.

Congress then mandated that toy makers decorate toy guns with blinding neon colors to label them as fakes. But as real guns have flooded the streets, children in fear for their lives began painting their toys to look more realistic.

Yesterday, responding to a recent fatal shooting in Brooklyn that was chillingly similar to the one in Memphis, Toys "R" Us, the nation's biggest toy retailer, announced that it would stop selling any toy gun that could be modified to look like the real thing.

The move follows similar actions by other big retailers, including Sears, Roebuck and Target, which halted sales of toy guns years ago.

Kmart decided this year not to buy any more realistic toy guns from its suppliers, and Kay-Bee Toys, which has 1,000 stores around the country, said yesterday that it was destroying all realistic toy guns. Some chains, including Bradlees Inc., a Northeast discount chain, said they would also eliminate such guns.

The retailers' action is likely to rekindle a debate about selling toy guns at all. In Brooklyn, the brightly colored grip on the toy gun that belonged to Nicholas Heyward, the 13-year-old who was slain, failed to prevent an officer from mistaking it for a real gun and shooting the boy in the stomach on Sept. 27.

Suzanne Schwartz, who owns Uncle Futz, a toy store in Manhattan that carries no guns, said, "If even the bright-colored guns are leading to violence, then I think everything may have to come off the market."...

This is what a gun culture looks like. It kills. It kills children.

July 8, 2014
By Med Wagner

The California sheriff's deputy (click here) who shot and killed a 13-year-old Santa Rosa boy carrying a toy gun will not face charges, a district attorney ruled Monday.

Andy Lopez was holding a pellet gun that looked like a real AK-47 when deputy Erik Gelhaus shot him seven times in October.

"While this was absolutely a tragedy, it was not a criminal act," Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said Monday.

Lopez’s parents said the decision was “impossible" to accept and they felt like Andy "had been killed again."...

Marijuana has nothing to do with this. The officer wasn't high, was he? Police are paid to protect the public, that means they have to deal with people that are potential DWI or intoxicated from marijuana. The media likes to 'pin it' on the evil doer to exonerate 'the system' from suspicion of FAULT. 

Young people are known to experiment with many things as they grow into being an adult. This is one of the things they experiment with. Usually parents are devastated when they receive a phone call stating your son was found smoking in the boys' bathroom. So, the idea Andy was at fault and deserved to be killed is nonsense. The ADULTS, especially the ones with the guns, are suppose to be responsible for Andy. 

The medical profession requires cultural competencies.

This is from the NIH.

Culture is often described as (click here) the combination of a body of knowledge, a body of belief and a body of behavior. It involves a number of elements, including personal identification, language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions that are often specific to ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or social groups. For the provider of health information or health care, these elements influence beliefs and belief systems surrounding health, healing, wellness, illness, disease, and delivery of health services. The concept of cultural competency has a positive effect on patient care delivery by enabling providers to deliver services that are respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs, practices and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse patients.

Teachers across the USA are finding cultural competence helpful in their classrooms.

To Help Educators Close Achievement Gaps (click here)

American classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse. As NEA President Dennis Van Roekel has noted, “Educators with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to value the diversity among students will contribute to an educational system designed to serve all students well.” 

Cultural competence is a key factor in enabling educators to be effective with students from cultures other than their own....

Cultural competence in the USA is nearly always met with resistance. Yes, it is bias that plays the opposing power to having a country willing to understand each other.

I remember a curriculum that was to be introduced in Health Class by a school system (Sorry, I don't recall the city - I think it was in NJ - this was sometime ago).

The curriculum was called "The rainbow of culture in the USA" or something like that. The purpose was to introduce the fact the USA has many interests within all the cultures across the country. It was suppose to introduce tolerance of diversity. The topic the parents objected to was LGBT. They believed it would encourage experimentation and confusion with their children. I always though it was a lame excuse, but, the parents won the argument. The parents didn't necessarily reflect the wishes of all the parents in town, but, no different than any other oppressive element, the squeaky wheel gets the attention.

If the USA values diversity as a strength to its society there is no room for objection to learning about that diversity and embracing it. The question is how and when do these priorities reach into all areas of society?

The reason the topic came up today is because of the terrible relations between the people of Ferguson and it's police force. I'll tell you right now, Officer Wilson will carry out the education if it were required, but, it won't carry into his practice as a police officer. I'll tell you why.

This is going to sound racist, but, the content in which it is derived is racist. Police officers that are biased in their practice will voluntarily dismiss any requirements they don't have in their belief system. 

I believe Officer Wilson knew full well he was going to kill Michael Brown, Jr. I also believe Officer Wilson didn't care what black man he was going to murder. I think he knew it was going to escalate and he was going to kill this young man. Wilson pulled his gun while in the SUV. It fired twice and it served to scatter the two young men from where they were standing. And mind you they were actually walking before they were standing still. 

Wilson pulled his vehicle into their path in a way the young men were going to run into his vehicle. Is that someone who cares if he hits them with the vehicle? No. If he hit them with the vehicle and they were injured he would make up a story about how these two young black men and how he tried to swerve at their aggressive attempt to stop the SUV. It is what some officers do. They carry a bias with them that allows them to do their job. It reminds me of soldiers involved in war. In Vietnam it was "The Gooks." The depersonalize of the enemy allows a person to easily kill them as someone less than human. The Black community can strongly identify with the idea of being treated as less than human due to the history of the race in the USA.

When it comes to instilling acceptance of all people into the personality of human development as a natural way to thinking in the USA, it will be met with very deep resistance. The reason is because people have certain understandings of what freedom is about. The best example is the Gun Culture. They refuse to allow any public forum that controls this dangerous entity to be regulated or patrolled. An aspect of the Gun Culture won't even allow law makers to bring about any understanding other than complete anarchy of this PRODUCT. 

After Sandy Hook, there were many parent organizations that wanted as the minimum to owning or possessing (different capacities - not the same) a gun the requirement of a background check. At the time the polls were stating 60% to 70% of the USA wanted background checks for gun purchases.

The Gun Lobby that may or may not be a representative sample of parents were effecting elections and the measure never made it anywhere. That is the type of resistance that is meet with imposing/teaching cultural competencies. 

The medical profession demanding those competences of their licensed and unlicensed personnel meet with great success.  The reason? Because 'healing' is vital to medicine. The human condition is vital to medicine. Sometimes different races have differences in their medical path to healing. Often, medicine considers healing a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual event. So, the WHOLE PERSON has to be understood. Medicine knows for a fact there are races predisposed to alterations in health that are genetic. So, having cultural competency is vital to the practice.

Can we as a country achieve acceptance of diversity? Yes. In time. But, there are aspects of our diversity that currently will not budge because they believe they are superior OR they have the RIGHT to a choice in how they live and values they accept. 

Will police officers learn to understand diversity as part of their jobs? Sure, but, I'll you right now there will still be the kind of murders we are seeing now. Why? Because there is chronically the argument "I felt threatened." that wins in places of law.

That is why I strongly believe to resolve to an immediate solution there has to be representative samples of the populous being policed within the police department. In cities and towns as divided as Ferguson, Missouri has been even before Michael Brown, Jr.'s murder, REQUIRES a restructuring of the police force and the local government. This is about life and death. 

The practice of medicine is about life and death, but, also longevity. The police in their practice is only concerned about the law and enforcing it. To officers like Wilson it is a job and doing the job is black and white in it's application. No application in law is black and white. It is why law men or police officers hate judges and the courtroom. Law when written is not written to apply in a yes or no decision. One has to look to the courts to realize how law is applied to citizens lives. No decision by a judge is simple. The decision is about the individual, the life circumstances of the individual and how the crime occurred. 

Right? 

Let's say I get a speeding ticket and I was going 20 mph above the speed limit. It would be a serious issue in a courtroom. Endangering the public and breaking traffic control laws. But, what if such a ticket never was written and I was given a police escort to the hospital to insure safe and emergent arrival of my injured child? That is the law and how decisions are made in it's application. There are decisions by police on how to apply the law to individuals caught up in circumstances they can't handle without breaking the law.

In the case of the two young men in Ferguson, Officer Wilson decided long before he even turned down the street where the confrontation took place how he would treat them. He knew he was within his power WITH A GUN to carry out any solution to a problem if he was threatened by Big Black Men. That bias existed in him as a police officer long ago. So, when he nearly ran the two young men over the confrontation started. Make no doubt about it, Wilson escalated the circumstances causing Michael Brown Jr.'s death. It was not either of the young men that did it. What were his words according to the witness who was walking with Brown? "Get the f... on the sidewalk." 

"Get the f... on the sidewalk," is nothing but confrontational. Then to realize Wilson didn't pull the SUV he was driving over to the curb but actually put his face in the SUV in their face is nothing but confrontational. That was the practice of Officer Wilson. Tell me "Get the f... on the sidewalk," is effective communication that is going to garner cooperation. It isn't and Wilson was confrontation even before he realized the two young black men meet the description of the cigarillo thieves. Wilson stated he then realized the one man, namely Brown, was carrying to boxes of the stolen item. If he realized the stolen merchandise was in the hand of one of the men then he knew they were unarmed as well. 

The point is how does a society change the practitioners of public safety TODAY to prevent any more innocent deaths? It can't. It is not reasonable to have that happen. 

The reason Ferguson, Missouri had a better evening and night yesterday is because thousands of National Guard were available to keep the peace. That is how explosive these problems are in Ferguson. There are children involved here. There are community members that trained for police confrontation in order to carry out their protests. They weren't interested in having problems with police either. The circumstances are too volatile to expect this to simply go away. It isn't going  to happen. The only way this is going to stop is to bring new police officers into the department that can reflect the communities demographics and a few need to be from the community itself.


Cultural competency is an admirable goal, but, it won't work in places where people are sequestered into their own priorities. The priority of the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri is to stay alive and have their children stay alive. That isn't even prioritizing acceptance or inclusion; it prioritizes survival. When a community and a police department arrive at a priority of survival that is not a civil capacity where teaching diversity belongs. The circumstances are to inflexible and let's face it there are political problems within that community as well from the outside. As much as the American people want this to end there are political forces blaming the community in racist tones. There is danger even to the point whereby members of the KKK have stated their interest in being on the streets of Ferguson. There was also another 20 year old found dead. 

Cultural competency is fine. And it should go forward, but, that isn't going to stop the problems Ferguson and other cities now face. And Ferguson is only 21 thousand people. 

I hate the thought of adding to the concerns of American parents, but, this is something not yet a problem for the US.

This is out of New Zealand and Australia. Citizens of those countries travel to Indonesia for vacations. The high methanol content of home grown brews have become a problem for parents of teens. Teens can find acceptance as a consumer when purchasing from home grown distilling. Reinforce with teens that adult activity is reserved for adults for a real reason and the time to enjoy that freedom will come soon enough.

November 26, 2014

By Sam Rigney

...What is methanol? (click here)

Methanol is the simplest form of alcohol. It is closely related to ethanol, the type of alcohol normally found in beer, wine and spirits – but much more toxic.

Tourists are among those most at risk of methanol poisoning, especially those travelling to countries like Indonesia and Thailand where home-brewed spirits are widely available.

Since poisoning often occurs in the context of drinking alcohol, the early symptoms may go unnoticed. 

After a period of time, victims start to develop a headache, vomiting, abdominal pain and vertigo. They may start to hyperventilate and feel breathless. Vision is often affected, with blindness in severe cases. Coma, convulsions, and death from respiratory arrest may ensue. Patients who survive may suffer permanent visual impairment. 

To protect yourself from methanol poisoning you should not buy or produce illegal alcoholic drinks, be aware of the symptoms and seek medical attention immediately.

 Source: World Health Organisation 

Travel is going to be an issue for Thanksgiving. Be careful out there.

November 26, 2014

The busiest travel day of the year (click here) is being snarled by a massive storm system moving up the East Coast and threatening Thanksgiving plans for millions of Americans, reports CBS News correspondent Vicente Arenas

"It's gonna get pretty crazy with the weather. It's usually crazy with the holidays anyway, but with the weather, it's gonna be even more crazy," traveler Chris Tieuli said.

Air travel across the country is already seeing an impact from the storm -- nearly 4,000 flights were delayed Tuesday and 138 were cancelled. Airlines are bracing for more of those numbers today as the storm moves into the Northeast.

Nina Francis is trying to fly home to Arizona from New York's La Guardia Airport, but is worried the weather won't cooperate....

November 26, 2014

1315 gmt

The Weather Channel Current Temperatures

The east coast is going to receive storms, but, they should not feel alone as the rest of the nation has a challenge of frigid temperatures ahead of them, too.

Traveling with precipitation is complicated by the frigid temperatures. In those cases it might be better to celebrate at home with calls to family. Have a safe and happy holiday.

The Weather Channel
24 Hour Temperature Change Map
November 26, 2014
1307 gmt

This is a difference temperature map than any other Thanksgiving Day. There are temperature changes in the double digit across of most of the country. It makes for travel concerns.

To realize how strange this is, Florida is bizarre. It is interesting, the more inland on the east coast the colder the temperature change. The Outer Banks of North Carolina and the tip of Florida have warmer air. The Ocean. The oceans don't change temperature as quickly as the air. Where there are communities surrounded by ocean the temperatures show a warmer temperature than average. The warmer ocean effects the immediate air temperatures, but, that warmer air does not radiate inland.

Southern Florida is surrounded on three side by ocean, Gulf and Atlantic. The tip of Florida and the Outer Banks also receive warmer water from the Gulf Stream. These areas that stand in defiance to general trends and understanding are considered micro-environments. They can occur anywhere depending on atmospheric and geological conditions. Cool stuff.

There should be a law.

November 26, 2014
By Heather Long

..."Ultimately, (click here) if you look over the course of the holiday selling season, the fact the stores are opening on Thanksgiving as opposed to Black Friday doesn't lead to increased sales," says Howard Feller, a Partner at MMG Advisors, an investment bank specializing in retail and fashion.

If anything, opening earlier and earlier has reinforced to consumers that they might get better deals if they wait, Feller says. Promotions no longer feel exclusive....

Thanksgiving Day is truly an American holiday. It cuts across all religions and ethnicity. It is about the Pilgrims, their ability to survive in a new land while finding friendship with Native Americans to learn the ability of the land to provide for a new nation of people.

There is no other country that celebrates Thanksgiving on the day and in the way Americans do. This is a holiday that should have a law to mandate the closing of all retail outlets with only essential people working on the holiday.

This American holiday requires people to reflect on their lives with family and to be grateful for life with that family. Self-reliance is important and vital, but, there is nothing that can replace a family as a support with a long view of life.

If our country believes in the family, success and celebration of family, Thanksgiving Day should be a mandated holiday for everyone.

July 4th is not the same as Thanksgiving. July 4th is not about family, it is about the country. The focus is completely different. Thanksgiving has a unique place in American history and the importance of the day should be reflected with a law that celebrates it.

I saw Michael Brown, Sr. speaking earlier and he said he feels numb. That is okay. It is okay to be in a safe place emotionally. I question the privacy he and the mother has in their lives. They lost a son. A dearly loved son and they haven't had a day to themselves to work through their grief if that is possible.

I realize the nation has latched on to the life of Michael Brown, Jr. and his tragic death as a means to facilitate change. There are many, many leaders from within the African American community and the church who are very capable of leading. I have to believe the parents need time away from all the tensions to grieve for their son. I do not believe they are up to leading anyone at this time. This death has become more than they ever bargained for with an entire nation focused on the resolve of this shooting.

The focus is not wrong, but, people have to grieve. People grieve differently and they need the privacy to do it.

The city of Ferguson has a problem. There are now two deaths of young men in the community that should be alive. There is no one in government that can deny there are problems. I hope the federal investigation finds a way to resolve the tensions in the city.

Another young black man is dead in Ferguson, Missouri. A 20 year old that knows Dorian Johnson. Mr. Johnson needs to be put into protective custody by federal authorities and now I know why the announcement came at 8 PM at night.

November 25, 2014
By Ezra Klein
But the story Wilson (click here) tells makes much more sense if you also read it alongside Dorian Johnson's testimony — and use the two accounts to balance each other out....

If there is enough mayhem any death can be contributed to those involved in the violence, regardless of who actually did it. I hope I am wrong and the particulars to this death is released soon.

I hope the National Guard stays in Ferguson for awhile. There is too much tension between the police and the community. This is not going well.

City parks have to be open to low income individuals and families.

This is Wabash Park in Ferguson, Missouri. (click here)

The city offers half price memberships to the city facility if applied for before July 5th of each year. That condition regarding half price membership to RESIDENTS has to stop. It has to apply during the entire season the facility is open.

Additionally, the city has to open FREE memberships based in income for the individual. That means all children are admitted without a fee. The city's social work department should automatically qualify low income families as a SERVICE to those individuals and family by the city.

Ferguson has a Parks and Recreation Department and this is not a joke. There needs to be an assessment to the hiring practices of Ferguson to Equal Opportunity Employment. It is one thing to have a job opening within the city's park department, it is another thing to actively recruit minorities to those jobs within and outside the city.

Their parks and recreation department is not the ONLY city service. Each department that has a hiring capacity has to be assessed for the balance of ethnicity within those departments. The city has to actively recruit minorities for jobs AND they have to actively seek participation of residents, especially low income residents, to fill those jobs. There needs to be a job counseling service in their personnel department that can assist minorities to success within their job.

There also needs to be a SPECIAL program for minority youth in Ferguson that offers Summer Jobs to the resident's children. As a part of such a program there needs to be counseling available to assist success of the youth acquiring those summer jobs. If the city is finding their finances too tight for some of these changes, there are monies to be applied for in Washington, DC and quite possibly at the level of the state. 

The State of Missouri has to be assessed for participation of minorities in any jobs at the state and private level. If there are ethnic differences skewed from the country, there needs to be a strong effort to change the demographics of those within Missouri that find themselves without a job although wanting one.

If minority candidates are not qualified the state needs to double it's effort to bring minority populations up to the level needed for quality of life choices.

It was noted in the demographics of Ferguson public transportation is important to the citizens. Here again is a chance for the people to find work, benefits and good pay. Not only that but understanding the needs of the people in that community will bring about the reality they are dependent on outside transportation to get around the city and outside the city. Residents who do not have access to personal transportation are TRAPPED inside their own lives. When people feel trapped without choices or potential for improvements of quality of life, the local community suffers with different forms of criminality. If there is no chance to earn, there is no chance to buy and therefore entitlement pursues and everything within sight and reach are also part of their daily activities.

There is not one minority youth in the USA that is so tainted they can't be provide opportunity. They want to be like everyone else. They have the same feelings of acceptance and friendship and where those needs fall outside the legal basis of THEIR LIVES they will find a way and ultimately end up being jaded and a problem the rest of their lives.

I strongly suggest this problem in Ferguson needs complete study and how much exists nationwide. What troubles me more than I can put in words is the fact these young black men are the promises to our country's future and they are cut down for no good reason at all. 

President Obama likes to promote minorities and that is good thing. He likes to elevate the minority brain trust and that is the first time a President was determined to bring minority insight to our country at the highest levels of government. But. If he and his administration are NOT more vigilant to the 'CONDITION' of minority life in the USA, there won't be those available for any job in government or qualified to be President of the USA.

How many black female police officers are in Ferguson?

The city has two-thirds black female single parent families. The police department should reflect the population of the city better than this. Is the police department actively recruiting black, female officers? How many women currently living in Ferguson are qualified for police training? How many are interested in making their community a safer place?

There is a reenactment by the Washington Post (click here).

This shooting should never have happened. There was another police car responding and the use of the gun was completely unnecessary. It is not disputed that Michael Brown, Jr. was running away from the officer when he first pulled his weapon.

This alone defeats any defense of Wilson's conduct. There is no value for human life in this conduct. There is only 'the job' the police officer has to do. The officer is reacting OUT OF CONTEXT of the events leading to this moment. 

Michael Brown, Jr. was more a danger to himself than anyone else. He was provoked by Wilson as well. He and his friend were walking down the middle of the street, basically jay walking. They were asked to move to the side walk and they didn't because they don't respect police. That is CULTURAL in this community. The fact Wilson wasn't respected when he asked the two young men to walk on a sidewalk is a problem for police. If the community has no respect for them, they are the problem, not the community.

Kindly remember, there was another person with Michael Brown, Jr. Neither moved to the sidewalk and ignored the demands of Wilson. This is a culture issue in that community and it revolves around police harassment.

Wilson took an order to move to the sidewalk and escalated it by pulling his vehicle in front of the two young men. He was blocking the path of Brown and his friend. Brown got angry. If a young man ignores police he isn't going to listen to them if they get in his face. It won't happen. Somewhere along the way Wilson notes the description of the people involved in the store theft of cigarillos. What does he do? He decides to be judge and jury and carries out a confrontation and not a limit on the movement of Brown and his friend. Now, mind you, these are the TWO people that were in the store where the cigarillos were stolen. TWO PEOPLE, not one. Wilson focused on "The Big Black Guy" and decided he was allowed to pursue him with a gun and to kill him. There was no doubt in Wilson's mind he was going to kill Brown. His gun was drawn and aimed at Brown. 

Everything from the point where Brown was running away doesn't matter. Wilson was completely out of control, first by blocking the path of the two young men, not engaging the second police officer in the pursuit and Wilson was a danger to the public. He drew his gun on a street with other civilian vehicles. It was stated in the testimony that Wilson's SUV was blocking both lanes and traffic besides. Other people are in the area and now he engaged his weapon. 

Everything from this point forward doesn't matter because it is nothing but police escalating the environment and over reacting to a theft to two boxes of cigarillos. 

I don't know how the prosecutor or the Chief of police can live with themselves. This young man was in a community of 21 thousand people and Brown was given the death sentence for no reason. Wilson is guilty. This is outrageous. This is the worst police response I think I've ever heard. I mentioned yesterday an article I read whereby a former inmate to prison was released after serving his time. He wanted cigarillos and stole two boxes. He was remanded to court and was sent back to prison for the minor theft. At least he was alive after the theft. Wilson is self-righteous and hides his hatred behind his badge. He harassed Brown and his friend and began the escalation that lead to Brown's death.

The return by the grand jury is corruption.

I want a Blue Ribbon panel chaired Senator Cory Booker to end the violence against young black men.

The death of Michael Brown, Jr. should never have happened. Police over reacted to the call at the convenience store and it turned into confrontation of an unarmed black man. THEY KNEW HE WAS UNARMED. They knew from the video at the convenience store he was unarmed. Wilson knew from being close up and personal he was unarmed.

Michael Brown, Jr. knew no other way to act. His behavior was one of a young man with an anticipated change in his life going to the university and he was out of control. 

What occurred in Ferguson in that police response was absolutely the worst response I have ever heard of. 

Senator Booker is a former mayor of Newark. He has first hand information of how to change a "scared for their lives" community into a real community where by little dogs are taken out of the cold and into police cars until their owners return home on a cold and snowy night.

Senator Booker is probably the only person in the USA qualified to handle this problem. Make no mistake, this is a huge problem for the USA. It has to stop and the federal government has the obligation of finding the problem and addressing it to end the deaths of these young men.

I am horrified at the reality of Michael Brown, Jr.'s death. This is some of the worst police work anyone can imagine. The problem are the police, not the community. The community is simply reacting to the fear of their own children dying for no reason.

The violence was predictable. The President was correct in calling for peace, but, in all honesty, should these people simply allow such outcomes to their children? 

The violence does not define these people, nor should it in the future. The President needs to seek answers for what happened in Ferguson. It is the police that are the problem.

Ferguson doesn't need gunmen as police they need peace officers.

I am scared to death for the African American community in the USA. I also feel powerless to do anything about it. I can only imagine how community after community feels today. Parents are beyond worry at this point. 

When communities are faced with assault time after time and unable to change their circumstances, this is oppression, not policing.

Good night for now.

It doesn't fit. The police actions don't fit the crime or the demographics.

Ferguson has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Ferguson has a lot of people who ride the bus to and from work. In fact, for its size, Ferguson has quite a high level of public transit users. Ferguson’s need for inexpensive transportation options for its citizens is quite high.

The citizens of Ferguson are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 22.81% of adults in Ferguson having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Ferguson in 2010 was $20,617, which is upper middle income relative to Missouri, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $82,468 for a family of four. However, Ferguson contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Ferguson is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ferguson home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ferguson residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Ferguson include German, Irish, English, Italian and African.

The most common language spoken in Ferguson is English.

The per capita income may be skewed because the incomes in Ferguson range from very wealthy to very poor. If the very wealthy are in six figure categories the averages for Ferguson would provide a different picture than actually exists.

August 14, 2014

By Howard Koplowitz

...About 14,000 blacks live in Ferguson, (click here) compared with more than 6,500 whites, according to U.S. Census data for the Missouri city. From January to April of this year, there were 27 whites arrested in the city compared with 217 blacks, or about 8.1 times as many black arrests as white arrests.

The Missouri Uniform Crime Reporting Program lists 36 offenses in its data, including murder and runaways under 18 years old. Most black people were arrested under a category called "all other offenses." In all, that represented 79 of the 217 arrests involving black people. At least 65 black suspects were arrested for larceny, the second largest category. In contrast, 13 whites were arrested for the same crime, meaning five times as many blacks were arrested for larceny as whites. Seventeen blacks were arrested on marijuana possession charges, the third-highest arrest total among African-Americans; only two whites were arrested on that offense....

The census data (click here) reflects more of a lower middle class city in comparison to all of Missouri.

The city obviously has no sense of community between it's city and county administration and the people. All that needs to change. These folks should be doing better than they are today and they should be living in fear of being killed either.

The percentages of income beginning with $75,000 per household per year falls off from that of Missouri.

For households earning less than $10,000 per year (which I can't imagine) the percentage is 11.6 for Ferguson as opposed to 7.8 for Missouri.

The city government and the police force doesn't reflect the community. There is no sincere understanding of each other.

$50 thousand to $74,999 household percentages is the only category where Ferguson is in the same proportion to Missouri. This city is primarily lower middle class.

A fifth of the population of Ferguson doesn't have health coverage compared to 10% of Missouri. That is nearly the same percentage reported to be below poverty level.

Some of the ratings for crime in Ferguson are higher than average. But, if Michael Brown, Jr. is any indication to the types of crimes in Ferguson, there is a lot wrong even in the statistics.

I want to put the blame on the City Council and it's inability or unwillingness to be a part of the community and to work to improve the quality of life of citizens of Ferguson, but there is THAT racial barrier. It is a profound barrier between city government and the people.

The largest percentage of people are 18-54, single women with children. Single women with children comprise 2/3 of the population.

Michael Brown, Jr. was reflective of the average teenager in Ferguson on his way to college to prepare for life. If he is the average in demeanor and activities there is a complete breakdown in city govern and the needs of the community.

Michael's problems were not that big. Arresting everyone that commits petty crimes is not the answer to improving the quality of life of these people and drives the crime rate up when it shouldn't be that high. There is a complete breakdown of government in relation to the population, to say it is adversarial is an understatement. The relationship of the people to the city and county government was problematic and needs to be changed in a very big way. Taking Cigarellos is a hideous reason for a dead teenager. And to think the police had dispatched two cars to the store and then two responded to Michael's sighting is ridiculous. The cops don't have anything else to do, except, chase down petty criminals? 

THE REACTION by police is completely out of balance to the crime. The idea the county prosecutor doesn't see it, is even more troubling.

If they whittled down the number of police officers in town, the people would be safer and the crime statistics better. There is a lot wrong here and no one is addressing the real issue and now a young black man is dead for a lousy $12. I am confident his parents would have paid for the product and taken it up with him at home. 

I read an article about a career criminal that was sent back to prison for stealing $12 worth of Cigarellos. No lie. He had served his time, was out and he stole $12 worth of cigars. He was returned to prison with a lengthy sentence. Yes, he was black.

I don't believe Ferguson is unusual in the USA. I don't know why this is happening to black men and especially young black men, but, if Ferguson's prosecutor is a reflection of THE SYSTEM it is profoundly broken. No one cares about THE PERSON, THE HUMAN BEING and the magnitude of the law to result in adverse outcomes.

This wasn't about a young man with a gun that killed a store owner while taking $12 worth of cigars. The store owner wasn't even the person that called the police. Ferguson's police are unnecessary in a city of 21 thousand people of which the households are 2/3 single females with children. The police aren't that necessary, BUT, because they have a high crime rate they get plenty of money from the federal government. The federal programs are missing the mark. They are missing the mark and causing deaths. THE CRIME RATE is the goal to receive money, not the level of improved quality of life by city government.

The little town of Ferguson is estimated to have a crime rate with only 6% of ALL OTHER AMERICAN cities worse. That is not reflective of the city I am witnessing. The Ferguson police are chasing every little crime and turning into a capital crime. The crime rate statistics needs to be investigated in Ferguson. They may or may not be accurate, but, they are elevated because the policing is completely wrong. There was only one murder that I saw in those statistics. That is not a high crime city but according to the STATS it is.

It's the money. And it's killing people. There needs to be new government for Ferguson and it needs to reflect the racial balance of the city. Things will change then.

Total court revenues are expected to reach $2,029,000 in FY 2013-2014. (click here) In the fall of 2011, the City implemented camera enforcement in three high traffic accident incidence intersections. Fines resulting from this implementation represent a portion of the increased revenues over the period, however, it should be noted that additional manned traffic enforcement also contributed to the increase. 

The city has cameras in their streets. The camera from the shop where the cigars were stolen was all the police needed. The pursuit of a young black man to the NTH degree is gross malpractice and over policing.

The city is anticipating a deficit of more than $7 million. 

The City’s Police Department provides police protection throughout the corporate limits of the City. Services are provided by 52 full-time officers including the Chief. The Police Department sponsors several community service programs including: Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E), Directed Bike Patrol (which provides vacation checks, patrol of closed or under construction streets and various activities inside parks), Operation Ident (to identify stolen property), School Resource Officers (who coordinate activities in one secondary and five elementary schools), Neighborhood Watch (a citizen involvement and crime prevention program), and Business Liaison Program (outreach police program to the business community).

I was working in New Jersey one summer in conservation. The initiative was to return native species to the forests of interest. They had been over grazed by deer. It became obvious the only way to end the over grazing was to cull the deer herd. The deer would end up dying because of lack of nutrition eventually anyway. A citizen of the town involved heard the report there are eight police officers currently that could be marshaled to cull the herd if the city didn't want to hire qualified people to do it. All of a sudden out of the middle of the fairly occupied room comes this shout, "How the heck did we get eight police officers for this town?"

The growth of law enforcement happens. Why? Because the city council believes adding one more will bring about a better outcome to the city. Adding police can be such a good political issue.

I really do believe Ferguson is over policed and policed incorrectly. There is one police officer for about every 400 residents, including children. It needs a change in government. It needs it desperately. Michael Brown, Jr. should be alive today and he isn't. There was no valid reason for his death.

There should have never been a police chase at all. The store's video and the videos around the city would have provided all the information the police needed. The parents could have been approached about the incident, shown the evidence and ask to pay the store owner and/or have their son pay the store owner. A fine for the MISDEMEANOR could have been imposed to make the city feel as though their treasury was rightly served.

There is no excuse for that young man's death and the county prosecutor is as incompetent as any I've ever witnessed.

Why it isn't completely obvious to the police, city council and county government that there is a wrongful death in this case is beyond anything I can imagine. This was NOT a policing issue, it was a parent conference issue.

This is over policing at it's worse and if this is what is going on in other cities and towns in the USA it has to end!