Who Cares of the Blacks and Immigrants Murdered in Boston?

  The thought, "If you don't have police, you have crime," is hanging in my head, and I am wondering about Chicago and whether parts of that city are not adequately patrolled, when I hear a statistic from another large city: 1,000 murders remain unsolved in certain sections of Boston.
  Now, having 1,000 unsolved murders is a different thing than having 1,000 murders. One possible reason for so many unsolved murders is that there hasn't been enough effort to solve them. The Boston statistic churns through my head, and I wonder if these sections of town are black sections of town, and the murders are not high priority because they are murders of poor blacks.
  This, too, would be one of the social injustices Colin Kaepernick considers. This could be one of the things the NFL players consider as injustices when they kneel during the playing of the National Anthem.
  I call up a story, "Three Boston neighborhoods, 925 unsolved killings," says the Boston Herald headline from October, 2015. I am stunned at the picture at the top of the article, because it immediately begins to validate my theory.  It shows Mary Ann Davis holding a picture of her grandson, Jordan Miller, who was killed in 2013, and whose murder remains unsolved.
  They are black. Mary Ann Davis and her grandson are black.
  The three sections of town are Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester. Could they be poor black neighborhoods? Looking in wikipedia, I find that Roxbury served as "the heart of Black culture in Boston." Mattapan? As of 2010, the majority of its residents were immigrants. Dorchester? It has a diverse population, with a lot of immigrants and a large concentration of African Americans.
   As I excitedly read the news story, I learned that the files the Boston Police turned over were incomplete, with 299 of them not even identifying the race of the victims, and some of them listing the victim simply as Jane Doe or John Doe.
   How serious can you be about searching for records when they are listed as Jane Doe or John Doe?
   I do wonder if many of the murders remain unsolved due to lack of effort to solve them. Who cares about the immigrants and the Blacks in these sections of town, that their murders should even be investigated?

Of Kaepernick, Chicagoans, and Standing with Them

  Consider LaQuan McDonald's case as you think about Nike's endorsement deal with Colin Kaepernick.
   He wanders down the middle of the street. Police pull up. Shots are fired. He spins around and falls to the ground. Video caught the shooting of LaQuan McDonald. With tomorrow's sun comes the trial of Jason Van Dyke, the police officer charged with shooting him.
   This is the police injustice Kaepernick is upset about. This is the cause for which NFL players go to a knee. Bless them, and consider many of them just might be aware of what is going on in Chicago.
    Two thousand shooting so far this year in that city. The violence is part of the reason for protesters taking to the streets. But, it is not just what is happening, but what is not happening, that all this falls under the roof of what Kaepernick is protesting.
  From 2011 to 2015, there were 28,500 citizen complaints against police. Of them, 97 percent of resulted in no action being taken against the officers. This according to the New York Times as quoted by quoted by the Young Turks.
   "Why do you think African Americans are protesting throughout the country?" the Young Turks host asks in the 2015 video.
    Consider, again, on the case of LaQuan McDonald. Other officers were present, witnesses were present. If the officer did shoot him, he shot him with impunity. If he did shoot him, he expected he could get away with it. Note, if you will, how that would require the complacency of the other officers. Note how that would require sweeping under the rug whatever the witnesses saw.
   It would seem, you only commit such a crime if there is a history of getting away with such things, and you have reason to believe you'll get away with it.
   Consider on the case of another officer, Jerome Finigan. The Young Turks announcer says the New York Times said Finigan had 68 civilian complaints against him -- with no action being taken against him. Finigan is quoted with telling the Times: "My bosses knew what I was doing out there, and it went on and on. And this wasn't the exception. This was the rule."
    What do you do when the police become the mafia? Do Chicagoans live in such a place?
   We go to foreign lands, and on foreign soil we fight for justice for these far away people. If we have those in our own country who are suffering under parts of government that are just as unjust -- such as the police in Chicago -- should we not be just as concerned?
   War is not required here. We only need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Chicagoans in protesting against such policing.
    And, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Colin Kaepernick in fighting such injustice wherever it is happening. That's just my thought. Your view might surely differ. But, to me, if people are being oppressed, you step in to help them.
   That is what America is all out. In part, it is about coming to the aid of those whose governments oppress them, be it in Iraq or be it in Chicago.
 

We Come to the Aid of Those Afar; Let Us also Help Our Own

  In Chicago this day, a protest drew but maybe 50 people. But, the hearts of all Americans should be with them. In a nation that demands justice, it would be good to see us demand justice for Chicago. In a nation that cares about its neighbors, and cares about the welfare of those in cities far away, let America care about Chicago.
  We go to war for those in far away countries. We fight for freedom for those in Iraq, and Korea, and Vietnam. Let us fight for those in our own land -- not with bullets, but with posters. Would that there were protests throughout our land demanding justice for Chicago.
   Protests for the southern and western ends of the town, that is, for they are the oppressed ends of the city. Today's protest called for something to be done about the violence and poverty in those ends of the town.
  I think of the words from a church hymn.
  "Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care;
   "I cannot see another's lack and I not share."
   Perhaps more succinctly, I cannot see another's need and I not care. Chicagoans of the southern and western sides are in need. We, as fellow Americans, should care.
   You will wonder what they face, what great cause is upon them that I should think that all of America should care.
   Wait one day, and I shall write again.

The Colors of the Flag and Those Who Kneel During the Anthem

   Consider the colors of the flag, and what they represent. And, think of the NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem.
   Red? The kneelers have the hardiness and valor to stand up for things they believe in -- even in the face of public criticism and, in some cases, being faced with the loss of their jobs.
   White? Purity and innocence? They seek what is right, and pure. The seek a more innocent America.
  Blue? And, blue represents justice? They seek justice. They seek that all people will be treated justly and fairly, and that blacks not be treated unequal to others in our legal system.
  We should not castigate the kneelers. We should look at the Constitution, which gives this people the right to appeal government for a redress of their grievances. When the flag is shown, it is a symbol of America, and it is not so unlike a government representative walking into the room. If you have a grievance, and the person you have the grievance against walks into the room, it is natural and fitting that at that time you should ask them about your grievance. That is all that they are doing. Bless them.

If you can't learn to fall, you won't learn to fly

Child Detention System for Immigrants Called 'Gold Mine' for Predators

  Thanks to the Deseret News for carrying an online story of an El Salvadorian official claiming that three youths from that country have been sexually assaulted while in immigration detention centers in the U.S.  Government-contracted workers allegedly violating children to me qualifies as a major story, but I didn't spot anything in the news until I came across this story.
   And, this is just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of allegations. The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative publication ProPublica says it pulled police reports for the past five years and found police have responded to at least 125 calls reporting sex offenses at child detention centers primarily used for children who are immigrating.
  While calls also included reports of children abusing other children, and workers abusing other workers, a good many of them many them were of workers abusing the children.
   So, what of the government-contracted network of shelters for immigrant children?  "If you are a predator, it's a gold mine," Lisa Fortuna, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Boston Medical Center told ProPublica.
  "IMHO, it is borderline criminal that even one kid is in detention, alone without their family, at this point in the controversy," writes one online commenter to the Deseret News story, identifying himself or herself as unrepentant progressive from Bozeman, Mont. "The US is engaged in an evil policy, and every criticism is warranted. And a Congressional investigation ought to be on the docket." 

Here's Why 3D Gun for Mass Murder Threat Didn't Make Much News

  Would a story about someone threatening to use a 3D-printed gun to commit a mass murder make national news?
   It didn't. On Aug. 8, Austin James David West was arrested after allegedly saying he was going to commit a shooting "people would be talking about." West allegedly said he was going to commit a mass murder at Broadview University, a small school in the Salt Lake area.
   While West allegedly made the threat Aug. 7, the item didn't even make the news for weeks, not until a search warrant affidavit was unsealed this past Tuesday in the 3rd District Court.
   The comments beneath the Aug. 28 online story in the Deseret News open up with a commenter posting under the name, The Pug Life - Lindon, UT, noting a gun printed on a 3D printer would not be capable of mass murder, as it would fall apart after a shot or two. The Pug Life said you cannot even print a working gun with a traditional office printer. "That would be like printing a portrait-quality photo for your wall using your office laserjet printer," The Puglife said.
   While a 3D-printed gun, then, might not be capable of being used in a mass shooting, the question remains as to why the incident was not reported to the media until the search warrant affidavit was unsealed this Tuesday. Why was the affidavit sealed, in the first place?