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Monthly Archives: February 2016

The Oscars


The media has been hot with the Oscars and the lack of diversity in the selection of candidates behind and in front of the cameras. Unfortunately this issue has been around a long time. Going back to the Oscars after the release of “Gone With The Wind”  when Hattie McDaniel won for best supporting actor (a first for an African American actor in any movie), however she was told to what to say and then essentially get off of the stage. Now there have been many African American  and other ethnic actors who have been nominated and won Oscars but recent events seem to point out that the nominations have been pretty “white”. The issue is with the lack of diversity in the nominations not so much the awards.  This is the issue, the lack of recognition at all.  Being nominated is a recognition of cinematic achievement  as much as winning. Any boycott or lack of attendance may not solve the issue immediately but it has served to focus attention on the issue. Several actors have been approached about this and all have issued opinions which ultimately addressed the issue in several ways ranging from dismissal to agreement. The last word on this has yet to be heard however  the general consensus appears to be that the nomination board need to take a broader view of the industry in its selection process. After all America and the larger world is ethnically and racially diverse in spite of the makeup of their personal circles.

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Rauner Runaround?


Governor Rauner has allowed the budget impasse to continue to the detriment of the State schools, employees and everyone else. There is enough blame to go around so what now? His address of a few days ago did not address any solutions but there were a couple of initiatives to consolidate some State agencies, updating the cyber systems but nothing on the budget.  Mr. Rauner is a financially savvy guy but running a State like a business is not the same as just running a State or a business. The upgrades he wants to put in place are needed but a State minded leader (politician or Statesman) is needed to run a State. When a leader (President, Governor, etc.) gains an office, the normal process is to meet with the legislature and try to get a sense of who the players are and how one can work with them. This has nothing to do with political parties as the people are first and should be considered first. We have not had that and the end result so far is more debt and more pain. Snatch the Band-Aid off and get on with it! Make a budget and get the state moving again. Nothing is perfect in any plan but if you do nothing , you gain nothing.

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Can’t Title This One


With the Caucuses in Iowa over, attention turns to New Hampshire for the next major phase of the Presidential charge. The front-runners have made some progress and feel that they are unbeatable and that is the message they (the still runners) want to convey. Looking at the facts that still exist, these aspirants are still the same people who previously made misstatements, errors in judgment and other issues experienced by us all. Remembering that no matter what these folks are human beings and no better than the least of us. The difference in them and the rest of us is that they are in public eye. With all of that being said I will point out the latest dropout on the Republican side. Rand Paul is a Libertarian conservative  but looking at what a Libertarian really  is eludes most of us. The party definition briefly is:  “The Libertarian Party (LP) is a libertarian political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, free markets, non-interventionism, and laissez-faire.” This definition taken at its face value does not take in the nuances of the party any more than the definition the Major political parties ascribe to them selves. What America is can be almost indescribable as  multifaceted and nuanced in nature as the countries that produced our ancestors. This is why a definition of any political party is so hard. The basic premise of anyone of them while appealing is not the true meaning. That meaning changes with each candidate and never ever reflects the whole of the party or its followers. I have taken the position of being independent with leanings in Libertarian, Green, Republican (not Dupublican) and Democrat (not Scamocrats). This open-mindedness has allowed me to I believe realistically look at the established parties (minor and major) and their assorted subsets and know that belonging to any one of them is a problem. I have had to read industriously about each one and then decide who as a representative of their party will hopefully do the best job and with luck be their own person if elected. I know this is a lot of work but would you not exert the same due diligence in buying a car or a house. Our political races are not much more than “dog and pony shows” and a fleeting distraction and we deserve better yet we will never receive better until we demand it by voting with our brain instead of our heart. There are no perfect solutions except in movies and this cinema we call life is real.

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American Police Learn New Tactics


There is a video on Sky News showing a group of American police chiefs how the English handle suspect armed or not without killing them.

How To Avoid Gun Use

American police chiefs have been to Scotland to learn new techniques in how to avoid shooting violent suspects.

As numerous fatal police confrontations cause public anger across the US, officers are rethinking when, and how, they use force.

The results are part of a hard-hitting documentary to be shown on Sky Atlantic and Sky News. Last year, police in the US shot and killed around 1,000 civilians, many of them unarmed.

Former hostage negotiator with the Boston police department Chuck Wexler brought the team across the Atlantic in an attempt to cut the use of fatal force.

As the two sets of police officers met, Mr Wexler described how if confronted by a suspect holding a rock an American officer would pull out his gun.

“You’re going to kill someone for throwing a rock. That’s what you’re gonna do,” said Mr. Wexler.

“How would society over here think about you shooting someone with a rock? They would not accept it.”

The senior American officers, from forces such as the NYPD and LAPD, watched demonstrations at Police Scotland training centres.

Sky News cameras joined them as they went out on patrol in Glasgow, and watched as unarmed police dealt with a variety of potentially violent situations.

The four-day visit showed how Scottish police step back from confrontation, using shields and vehicles for protection.

They also saw examples of how in Scotland officers use language and negotiation in a different way to their American colleagues.

Scots police train how to tackle a violent offender Sergeant Jim Young trains hundreds of Scottish police recruits every year.

“The American style of policing, it’s very authoritative,” he said.

“There’s a difference of going in, straight up at this level, whereby you’re ordering people, you’re shouting at them. You can’t go anywhere after that.

“But if you start down low you can adjust your communications to suit.”

In the US there are an estimated 300 million firearms in circulation.

The documentary shows the American police officers, while accepting both countries are very different, learning lessons in how to approach volatile situations.

Many American forces adopt what is informally known as the “21-foot rule”.

Police officers keep that distance from someone with a sharp weapon, but will shoot if the suspect closes that gap.

Some see the controversial tactic as a ‘licence to kill’.

Scots firearms officers have shot civilians only twice in the last decade.

The last officer to be killed on duty through criminal violence in Scotland was in a stabbing in 1994.

“It’s about time that we step up and this is our chance,” said Mr. Wexler.

“It’s a crisis but it’s also our chance to do the right thing.”

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