Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A New Generation of Police Demostrates Brutality to Passive Protesters

On this day before Thanksgiving, my faith and confidence in the continuing growth of our national society has been shaken.

This past Saturday protesters sitting on the ground supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement on the campus of the University of California, Davis, collectively took a face full of pepper spray at close range from an officer in riot gear in an incident that was captured on cellphone video and spread virally across the Internet.

This afternoon, I watched this video replayed and as I watched it I began to think about various past attacks on suffragettes, civil rights marchers,



marchers for the Equal Rights Amendment and advocates for LGBT rights. It seems to me that despite our growing sophistication in so many areas of life, we continue to have problems permitting our fellow citizens from exercising their rights to protest social wrongs.

Have we not learned any lessons from the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago? I am fearing we have not.

With regards to this most egregious event in California, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi described the video images as “chilling” and said she was forming a task force to investigate the actions of campus police.



In the California video an officer dispassionately pepper-sprays a line of several sitting protesters who flinch and cover their faces but remain passive with their arms interlocked as onlookers shriek and scream out for the officer to stop.

It is my understanding that each of the officers involved, along with their supervisor have been suspended. I wonder if it is with or without pay? Nevertheless, they should all be dismissed.

I had hoped that acts of brutality by law enforcement officers was part of a sad chapter in a closed book.

I may be wrong.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Many thanks to all who made the 2011 Bishop's Dinner and Awards Ceremony Memorable



I would like to begin with two simply words - thank you to all who made our 2011 Bishop's Dinner and Awards Ceremony so memorable.

Without the assistance of Bill Morton, Kris Luck, Deacon Peter Mc Gechie and Laurie Westberg-Martin our Dinner could not have made our guests and ten of our honorees welcomed.

And would like to especially thank the Very Reverend John David van Dooren and the staff of the Church of the Atonement for their kindness to us for the evening.