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FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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Homeland Security Is A Must
o one paid less to
Homeland Security than I did. I could not care less and thought the entire pro- gram was unnecessary and is certainly a waste of money.
It should be noted that this was my sole opinion as far as I know. I am glad that I learned what homeland security is and how valuable it is. Not only is it valuable, but it is a must! I have learned that homeland security provides for the inter- nal welfare of this country from acts of terrorism and other hazards that may threaten or occur in America.
It was always my thinking no act of terrorism was going to happen here. Shucks, ter-
rorism would only occur thou- sands of miles away from the USA in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria or some other distant places, but not in the United States. Oh no, not here.
In recent time that old snug feeling of safety has dis- appeared and has been re- placed. I have every reason to be cautious in my thinking. There is a lot of talk about mil- itant countries that are threat- ening to do harm to this country when they can.
Then there are American citizens who lived right here in the country trying to figure ways to commit terrorist acts in their neighborhoods, as well
as the center of government of the town in which they now live. There are major terrorist groups operating in the Mid- dle East that are a threat to every nation.
In the United States we have citizens trying to leave to join up with this large band of violent militants called ISIS.
This terrorist group is looking for the day when they can take the United States on. Let’s hope that day never comes. I, at one time believed that day could come. If we don’t keep our eyes and ears open and stay prepared, that day will come.
I am not the only one who didn’t and who still don’t know the value of Homeland Secu- rity and that is the Republican Party. Somebody needs to tell them that is a department that must be on the job round the clock, seven days a week. A break can lead to unnecessary death and destruction. Home- land Security is a must!
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
The Biggest Surprise Was No Surprise
harlie Miranda was right for not thinking he had to
spend campaign money to retain his City Council seat. Indeed, as though he was sleep-walking, Miranda handily de- feated opponents to receive another four years on Tampa’s semi-circle of power. But Miranda’s no-surprise wasn’t the only congrats.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who reminded us how he first came to Tampa with an honorable discharge from the Navy and a 1966 Dodge Dart (in the 1980’s), was given yet another opportunity to continue his homerun hits on behalf of the City of Tampa.
Mike Suarez won despite a spunky contender; Yvonne Yolie Capin was granted a second opportunity as was incum- bent Harry Cohen.
Wrote a reporter, “The re-election of four council mem- bers by wide margins, suggests voters had little appetite for change in City Hall.” No. The re-election of four council members by wide margins suggests voters had little appetite for voting at all. The word describing their attitude is “Litost” (pronounced “Lee-tost”), a Czechoslovakian term which means in translation, “I will hurt myself, and you will be sorry.”
Obviously, Tampa voters adopted the word Litost during this most recent election. What other reason would explain why voter turnout was the lowest it had been in almost fifty years? While citing a possibility of absentee voters, many of- ficials concluded people simply did not show up either out of boredom, or out of suicidal protest . . . in other words, “Litost.”
What happens to a society when it forgets its most inalien- able right: the right to vote? With all due respect, what hap- pens when incumbents, regardless of their abilities or intentions, no longer have to worry about what happens at the polls? The answer is as clear as a winter’s day. A return to slavery looms on the horizon.
Fear Of A Black Flag
ave you ever had the
feeling that you could have done more to prevent a tragedy from occurring? Something like taking the keys from a drunk before he got be- hind the wheel of a car or forcibly preventing your gam- bling addicted friend from, once again, cashing his or her paycheck at the Hard Rock Casino before he or she paid their light bill?
Once you allowed one of these unfortunate events to unfold without taking action, all you were left with was the hope and a prayer that every- thing turned out for the best. And, when it didn't, you could- n't help but second guess yourself later because, deep inside, you knew you could have put forth a better effort.
I imagine that's how most of the westernized world, in- cluding the United States, must feel now that the terror- ist group ISIS has effectively punked an entire planet. Maybe that’s a strong way to put things. But, I'm not sure that there's a better way to de- scribe how this extremist or- ganization has been able to bully countries across the globe recently.
If they're not kidnapping a journalist for ransom, sawing some innocent photographer's head off in front of a camera or
selling women into sex slav- ery, they're either killing Christians for sport, destroy- ing priceless artifacts in a mu- seum or planning to disrupt Saturday afternoon shopping by attacking a mall some- where. Anything to further promote the image that they're renegade outlaws with less than zero amount of fear or worry about any repercus- sions.
When asked about ISIS a few years ago, President Barack Obama blew them off as little more than your run-of-the-mill harmless pest, something akin to a housefly that eventually dies after it fin- ishes its 24-hour life cycle of annoyance.
Of course, that was then. These days you can't tune into a news broadcast without see- ing a black flag perched atop a tank surrounded by a horde of AK-47 toting hellions ready to murder anyone who doesn't subscribe to their program.
ISIS is no longer that that fly buzzing by our ears. It has transformed into one of those big fat rats that, not only, raids our pantries and drinks the last of our orange juice, but has become bold enough to Bogart our television remotes as well.
The sad part is that what we're seeing now on a daily
basis could have been easily avoided. Like the scenarios I mentioned earlier, if the na- tions of the world would have dealt with the ISIS threat dur- ing its infancy, the problems the terrorist group are creat- ing now would never have ex- isted.
Instead, they drug their feet, haggled over a strategy and let a small group of disgruntled fundamentalist grow into a worldwide killing machine. And, today, the really uncom- fortable truth is that it may be too late to turn them back.
With ISIS being able to re- cruit sympathizers to its cause from every hemisphere, trying to prevent them from gaining momentum is equivalent to at- tempting to catch smoke with a strainer. Sure law enforce- ment agencies have been suc- cessful at intercepting a few teenage girls traveling to Syria to become ISIS wives (at least that's what those young girls thought), but what about that unknown individual who's willing to do ISIS' dirty work right down the street. Who is going to stop him?
The black flag that everyone once ignored is now the defi- ant symbol of a threat we can't seem to escape. And, because of the failure of those calling the shots to do something sooner, it's not a question of "if" we'll come face-to-face with some of their handiwork, but when....
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: Cbreal- ity1@yahoo.com.
The Kerner Report: Prologue 1967
early forty-eight years ago, (1967), President Lyndon B.
Johnson established the National Advisory Commis- sion on Civil Disorders (The Kerner Report) to discover the whats, whys, and hows of preventing civil disorders from re- occurring with riots, looting, burning, and with abrasive po- lice community relations across America from Los Angeles, California to Detroit, Chicago, and Newark, New Jersey.
Concluding that America was moving towards two di- vided societies, one Black, one white – separate and unequal, and that a deepening racism threatened the future of every American, the Commission laid out numerous recommenda- tions for America’s cities, counties, states, and our nation.
Decades later, reading the Kerner Report’s list of “12 deeply held grievances . . . identified and ranked by level of intensity” and the lists of recommendation there from, we see lists that could very well apply today.
In fact, the top three grievances still exist currently. They are 1) police practices, 2) unemployment and underemploy- ment, and 3) inadequate housing.
Indeed, what was most telling about the report was Chapters 11 to 13, Police and the Com- munity, Control of Disorder, and The Administration of Justice under Emergency Conditions. From America’s response to Ferguson, Newark and Los Angeles, the Kerner Report obviously sat and still sits collecting dust on too many law enforcement bookshelves.
Meanwhile, we await the upcoming release of President Barack Obama’s National Policing Committee Report to remind us what we already knew in 1967. Maybe, this time, however, someone will read the document, listen to its implications, and act on America’s behalf.
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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