April 17th Musings

Morning musings,
1- First, on the college that is requiring sensitivity training because someone thought to serve Mexican food during their "Intergalactic Night" a fun seminar on the possibility of Alien life in outer space.
Personally, I loath the term Illegal Alien when referencing undocumented immigrants. It should be avoided by intelligent commentators. 
Here, though, it is strictly a question of intent and there does not seem to be malicious intent with this unintentional double entendre. Like the theater group that wears black face in homage to the old burlesque “Negro” theater sometimes it is possible to hurt people’s feelings unintentionally. But this seems a politically correct overreaction to a silly incident.
2- On the Battle for the Iraqi city of Ramadi, a place that still haunts me having seen literal truckloads of dead bodies during the fighting before and during the Surge fighting there. Ramadi must not be allowed to fall to ISIS. Ramadi, Fallujah and the rest of the Sunni triangle must be held. Like Kobani, which was the Kurd's Alamo, the fight now has significance well beyond this battle. ISIS must be cut off by a massive US-led aerial campaign and eliminated. Remember Ramadi.
Yemen, on the other hand is a mess that will only be resolved by negotiations and de facto partition. I think we should stay out of that one except for the drone strikes that should continue taking out al Qaeda senior leadership which has threatened us.
3-Britt McHenry the ESPN correspondent caught on tape berating a humble parking lot attendant is justifiably embarrassed. Her conduct reveals something ugly behind that pretty face. She’ll have to live it down, but I am a firm believer in second chances having been granting several of them. Perhaps she should embrace that "Mean Girl" persona, which could serve her well as a newly abrasive, larger than life Joan Rivers/Fashion Police-type sports commentator.
4-Shabaka Afrika the Crittenden County (West Memphis, Tennessee) NAACP chief comparing cops to "criminals and terrorists" and calling on black families to arm themselves against law enforcement is dangerous and misguided. He is an inch away from inciting to riot and should be disciplined by the national NAACP organization. 
Having said that, remember my solution to the undeniable perception that cops are targeting unarmed black men. There should be a presumption of federal jurisdiction in each and every police killing regardless of the circumstances or the race of the participants. 
If it turns out to be a standard law and order situation, a stickup at the 7/11 or a bank robbery, then the feds quickly walk away. 
If it is deeper and worse than that, then the feds have a righteous role in probing whether the dead or injured suspect was treated constitutionally and legally.
Remember the federal probes in both Ferguson and Staten Island found no reason to file civil rights charges against the officer responsible for the death of the detainee.
Have a great Friday TGIF