I am praying for the residents of the City of Grand Rapids following the release of the video by the chief of police of the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old male, by a police officer after a struggle during a traffic stop last week. I have watched the multiple video’s which have been released and all I can say is why? What did Lyoyo do to cause the officer to run the plates and determine the plates did not match the car? Was he guilty of driving while black? Why did Lyoyo get out of the car as soon as he was pulled over? Why did Lyoyo not get back into the car as instructed multiple times? Why did Lyoyo not have his driver license readily available and provide it when requested? Why did Lyoyo try to run? Why did Lyoyo continue to resist even after he was on the ground? Why did it take so long for GRPD backup to arrive? I really appreciate the Grand Rapids police chief making this video available to the public even though he was allegedly advised not to release the video by the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office. The death of Patrick Lyoya is very sad. Two lives and their families’ lives are changed forever. In my opinion this does not appear to be a racially motivated shooting. In my opinion, Lyoyo was shot because he continued to resist to the point the officer feared for his own safety. See my Video of the Day and draw your own conclusions.
In case you have been living off the grid and haven’t noticed that prices are climbing like they id in the late 70s and early 80s. Multiple sources are reporting the overall cost of gas, food and other everyday items is increasing at its fastest rate in more than 40 years. Experts cannot say with confidence whether price increases will speed up or slow down in the coming months. The accelerating price rate — in other words, inflation — hit 8.5 percent in March over the previous year, according to a federal report released yesterday. That was the fastest increase since 1981. One of the tools the federal reserve chairperson uses to control inflation is to increase interest rates. We have been so spoiled by low inflation and low interest rates over the past few decades, you have to be over 50 years old to remember when interest rates for mortgages, home equity loans and car loans were between 15 and 20%. With all of the debt this country has incurred both as individuals and as a country, our economy will come to a screeching halt if interest rates climb anywhere close to the levels of the early 80’s.
Near the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many of the NATO and EU nations pledged increases in their defense spending to get to the NATO goal of 2.0% of GDP. Germany’s chancellor Scholz won applause for his announcement that surprised world leaders and some of his own party leaders when he responded with a 100-billion euro plan to arm Germany, send weapons to Ukraine and end his nation’s deep dependence on Russian energy. But six weeks later, things have changed. Per The Guardian, the chancellor has ruled out an immediate oil and gas embargo. He is dragging his feet on sending 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine and there are new debates in the ruling coalition about just how to go forward with the massive task Mr. Scholz has laid out, let alone how fast. Is anyone surprised? For the past 70 years Germany has benefited from a policy of limited defense spending while significantly growing other parts of their economy. In 2021, Germany was spending only 1.53% of its GDP on defense spending. This compares to the U.S at 3.52%, United Kingdom 2.29%, Poland 2.10%, and France 2.01%. As the largest economy of Europe, the difference in actual spending by Germany is very significant.
Last week, a friend asked me what I liked best about conservatives and what I like least about conservatives. For best I said I like fiscal accountability, which does not mean no new taxes or lower taxes. For least, I said the underlying racism that seems to be in built into so many of the policies proposed by right wing conservatives. When I ran across this article today in the NY Times, I believe it makes my point.
In a bitterly divided Congress, it was a rare measure that had been expected to sail through without a fight. A bill to name a federal courthouse in Tallahassee after Justice Joseph W. Hatchett, the first Black man to serve on the Florida Supreme Court — sponsored by the state’s two Republican senators and backed unanimously by its 27 House members — was set to pass the House last month and become law with broad bipartisan support. But in a last-minute flurry, Republicans abruptly pulled their backing with no explanation and ultimately killed the measure, leaving its fate unclear, many of its champions livid and some of its newfound opponents professing ignorance about what had happened. The objector was Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia. Shortly before the House vote, he began circulating an Associated Press article from 1999 about an appeals court decision that Judge Hatchett wrote that year that struck down a public school policy allowing student-approved prayers at graduation ceremonies in Florida. The decision, which overruled a lower court, held that the policy violated constitutional protections of freedom of religion.
Yesterday, I started a new feature Question of the Day. My Question of the Day was why does Hawaii have interstate highways? A fellow reader sent me the answer. It has nothing to do with whether the road connects with other states, it has to do with the design specifications the road must meet. If it meets certain specifications related to infrastructure and quality of the road, it can be called an Interstate highway. Once designated as an interstate, the federal government takes on most of the funding of maintenance and replacement. Therefore, there are interstates in Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico and interstates within states that do not connect with other states, such as I96 in Michigan. In the future do not expect answers to my questions of the day on a regular basis.
Another incident of violence against an umpire during a youth baseball game. This occurred in Texas. Thank you Dan Jeffery for sending me this video.
Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence? Get vaccinated and get your booster.
Orchid of the Day: Chief Eric Winstrom of the Grand Rapids Police Department for releasing the video of the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoyo. Thank you for not listening to the Kent County Prosecutor’s office advice.
Onion of the Day: Germany, see the above story.
Quote of the Day: “He voted against student-led school prayer in Duval County in 1999. I don’t agree with that. That’s it. I just let the Republicans know that information on the House floor. I have no idea if they knew that or not.” Georgia Republican Representative Andrew Clyde-see above story.
Questions of the Day: If Patrick Lyoyo was white, would the officer have run a check on his license plates? If Justice Joseph Hatchett was white, would Representative Andrew Clyde have voiced concern about a federal building being named for Justice Hatchett?
Video of the Day. The press conference in Grand Rapids today.