We offer only platitudes after mass shootings

Where is the outcry over mass shootings?

It seems as if mass shootings are so common we become inured to these events. Where is the outcry for gun control? Where is the NRA? Where are our legislators? We decry the murders of citizens but we offer only platitudes at these increasingly common events. I am disappointed in our country.

And I just got NFL Sunday Ticket, too

I used to go to Hornets games until the 1998-99 lockout and George Shinn selling Charlotte out for New Orleans. I gave up on the NBA and haven’t been to an NBA game or watched one on TV since.

Now I am having to give up watching the NFL for their lack of respecting the American flag, national anthem and the USA!

Thank God for college ball for now! If they start disrespecting our flag and anthem, I guess I’ll have to give up sports.

What exactly do NFL players want?

Since the problems of American racism are far from being resolved, the important questions prompted by the NFL players’ protests concern what specific changes these young men want to see made, and how they can help move the country in those directions. I look forward to hearing the leaders among them find ways to focus and articulate their concerns in such ways as to make a real difference.

National anthem not only news going on

In the USA, Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas have been devastated by hurricanes. Internationally, North Korea and Iran are building nuclear capabilities. Europe is trying to figure out Brexit. Saudi Arabia is (finally) trying to come into at least the 19th century.

And our national debate is about whether football players should stand up while the national anthem is played?

Get a life, folks!

Millennials have reason not to vote

Jim Morrill’s diagnosis of voter apathy among millennials is all mouth and no trousers. Disparaging millennials for not answering the call of electoral participation in local elections misses the point entirely. Millennials, more than their parents or grandparents, are today beset by overqualification, wage stagnation and perhaps most odious of all, gig economies. This is a result of macro-level decision-making in both Raleigh and Washington, all of which has worked in the past three decades to rob local labor forces of their leisure and stifle those who now make up the largest percentage of the U.S. workforce from engaging in politics more forcefully and thoughtfully.

Don’t treat Puerto Rico like a child

President Trump has erred badly in suggesting the U.S. shouldn’t foot the entire bill for Puerto Rican recovery. The U.S. treats its territories as children, with all the obligations of citizens and only a handful of rights. Would a parent insist their minor child pay for her own room and board? The U.S. obligation to her territories can never be met until her citizens are treated as Americans.

It’s time to rename the Siskey YMCA

Many individuals have had their names ripped from buildings and other edifices when their less-than-honorable exploits had been revealed. Names coming to mind include Donald Trump, Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Dennis Kozlowski, Robert E. Lee and various Confederate personages.

The mission statement of the Siskey YMCA (per its website) includes one concerning “values” – namely honesty. Renaming this YMCA P.T. Barnum would be an improvement.

Are we willing to risk our planet?

Are we humans so callous that we will continue to spew increasing quantities of pollutants into the earth’s environment as though we can do it forever? The oceans have huge garbage patches that are growing larger daily. The atmosphere is changing at least in part because of our ever-increasing emissions. Are we willing to risk this planet and the future of our children and grandchildren because of our need for convenience, our thoughtless waste, and our need to consume more and more? The evidence to date suggests “yes, we are”! I am not proud to be part of that process. Are you?

This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "We offer only platitudes after mass shootings."