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Breaking:
A shooting at a Fed Ex facility in Indianapolis has left at least 8 dead, and the shooter appears to have taken his own life.
Prince Phillip
Prince Phillip, The Queens husband, who some here have called ‘the grandfather of the nation’, will be set to rest at his funeral tomorrow at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. Only 30 people will attend. His coffin will be carried in a Land Rover he designed and be part of a “no fuss” funeral Phillip had requested.
The public will not be invited to attend because of the pandemic, and the rest of the details of the funeral will unfortunately put on display the rift between the Royal family especially between the grandsons, William and Harry who do not appear to be on speaking terms following the controversial interview on Oprah Winfrey, with Meagan Markle claiming racism in the Royal family.
Harry and William will not walk side by side, and will be separated by Peter Phillips who is Princess Anne’s son.
Unusually the family will not wear uniforms, because both Harry and Prince Andrew (who is wanted for questioning by the FBI over the Jeffrey Epstein sex investigation), have stepped back from Royal duties and cannot represent the military, so The Queen decided it was better for all to appear in civilian dress.
The sombre ceremony will take 50 minutes long and the nation will mark a moment of silence at 3pm on Saturday.
After the service, the Duke’s body will be interred in the royal vault of St George’s Chapel – however, this will not be his final resting place.
When the Queen dies, Philip’s body will be moved to the King George VI memorial chapel, where they will lie together. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret are also buried here.
Asked about Harry and William, the Palace pr has said this is a funeral and they wont be drawn into perceptions of a drama, but of course British tabloids are full of details.
The Queen will be sitting alone because of Covid, and that image promises to be striking.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14663398/prince-harry-william-prince-philip-funeral-queen/
Chicago Shooting
Body cam footage was released yesterday of another controversial police shooting, this one in Chicago involving the death of a 13 year old boy, a seventh grade student. The shooting on March 31, shows a police officer chasing the boy down an alley yelling for the boy to “drop it” and “show me hands” and different angles of other video appear to show the boy throwing something behind a fence. Police later showed a handgun was dropped there. The officer shot once as the Latino boy raised his hands.
We live in an era of police body cam footage which exposes every critical second of police interaction with the public, which is filled with adrenaline and human error, of suspects who don’t often comply with orders to get out of cars or be handcuffed, or in this case to stop running in a darkened alley by a police officer who no doubt fears for his own safety believing the boy hand a gun.
Not every case can be labelled racist or over use of force, but the body cam footage is there as proof of how incidents unfold in split seconds and how police don’t always get it right. And as the internet whips these images around the world, and cries of bad police get louder, pressure on police grows, and many police are retiring from a job they believe is becoming impossible. But always, always in the forefront is the life that was taken and that has to be the focus of discussion.
Amidst the debate should this footage be released at all? But because of calls of racism and over use of force by police, is the uncomfortable fact public confidence is at an all time low. And body cams have to be worn, and the graphic videos can’t be examined behind closed doors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/15/us/adam-toledo-chicago-shooting-video.html
George Floyd
The defense has rested its case in the murder trial of police officer Derek Chauvin charged with killing George Floyd in Minneapolis and that’s another City on edge as it awaits the verdict.
Chauvin decided not to take the stand in his own trial which is his right, and probably his downfall because his lawyer has not adequately defended Chauvins use of force which included not only kneeling on George Floyd for over 9 minutes, but body cam footage which showed another police officer saying he couldn’t find Floyd’s pulse and Chauvin then kneeling on his neck and back for another 2minutes after that.
The defense called just seven witnesses and watching the trial I find it hard to believe any of them helped establish reasonable doubt, but the jury gets the last word.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/15/derek-chauvin-trial-2/
Russia Sanctions
President Biden made good on a promise to punish Russia for interfering in American elections, and for a massive SolarWinds hacking of Government computers in the U.S.
Shortly after the sanctions were announced, Russia's foreign ministry called them "hostile steps which dangerously raise the temperature of confrontation".
The impact of sanctions which name companies and Government agencies involved in the hacking, and actions taken against Russian Sovereign debt are minimal. Critics of Putin will say the sanctions, which also involved expelling Russia diplomats fall short of calls for actions against Putins inner circle including some 30 rich Russians known as Oligarchs, who they say have helped Putin stash billions of dollars.
More sanctions are expected later this year because of Russia’s use of chemical nerve agent in the poisoning of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/15/explainer-why-is-the-us-sanctioning-russia-and-what-impact-will-it-have-a73607
Canada Covid
The vaccine rollout is painfully slow in Canada with a shocking statistic of only 2 per cent of the population vaccinated, placing Canada behind some 40 nations in the race to protect people.
In the province of B.C. an alarming spread of the Brazil variant P1 is showing the inept and bungled health response to a mutation that could defeat the vaccines.
And then there is a see-saw deflection of responsibility over who ultimately is responsible for the mess, with provinces blaming the Federal Gov and P.M. Trudeau blaming provincial leaders.
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/carson-jerema-trudeau-government-failed-to-keep-out-variants-that-are-tearing-through-canada
Afghanistan
It’s not only U.S. forces leaving, but all of NATO will withdraw the remaining forces in Afghanistan by Sept 11. That’s about 10 thousand forces in total which have mainly been supporting and training the Afghan army which the German Defense Min. thinks is more than capable to handle the challenges of Taliban and ISIS and Al Qaeda and other splinter groups.
Whats striking is the notion there are some 22 so called terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan now, and many parts of the country are ‘no go’ areas, meaning unsafe to govern.
When American forces left Iraq, ISIS took over the north and declared a caliphate. The U.S. appears to be setting Afghanistan up for a similar fate, and many will say Biden’s decision to drawdown the last American troops instead of keeping minimal forces in the country is a disastrous error.
I will have more to say on Back Story with Dana Lewis podcast next week.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-well-prepared-for-afghanistan-pullout-says-lawmaker/a-57216844
That’s my Friday run down. Lots of news today. Try to have a good weekend everyone and most important is your health! Get out for a walk or a run or a bike ride and stay well.
Dana