The nine saints of Charleston, South Carolina

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Updated 6/19/2015, 3:00 PM

It was at a Bible study in the sanctuary of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, on Wednesday evening, when a young white man walked in and was warmly welcomed.

Greeted by the pastor and his congregants, this person sat among this group for an hour, as they read and discussed the meaning of selections from Holy Scripture and their daily application for each of them.

When the hour-long discussion period ended, this 21-year-old allegedly pulled out a .45 caliber handgun, hurled racial slurs at the peaceful assembly, then began shooting and reloading, killing nine of God’s faithful.

Pension Obligations: Back into the Political Sandbox

Members of Somerset County's education association in Somerville.

Today, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey decisively ruled (5-2) that it will not interfere with what are the constitutional responsibilities of the New Jersey Legislative and Executive branches concerning the much contested and underfunded pensions of public employees.

Although a lower court had previously ruled in favor of the New Jersey Education Association and its members to enforce a pension payment shortfall of $1.57 billion to be included in next year’s state budget, the Supreme Court reversed that decision upon direct appeal by the Christie administration.

In a 144-page opinion released this morning, N.J.’s highest court ruled “That the State must get its financial house in order . . . and that “the need (to do this) is compelling in respect of the State’s ability to honor its compensation commitment to retired employees.”

National security compromised

In a rare U.S. Senate session on Sunday, Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky unilaterally prevented that body from temporarily extending the Patriot Act which expired on the same day.  Both the House of Representatives and President Obama had supported an extension.

Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building

Approval by Congress and the Administration to extend the Patriot Act would have allowed time for Congress to amend it or to write a new law to replace it, but Rand scuttled that proposal through procedural maneuvering.

He was criticized for that by his colleagues, many of whom simply walked out of the Senate Chamber when he rose to speak.  Rand admitted that he will eventually lose his fight on this issue.  Senator John McCain accused him of posturing to gain favor in his bid for the GOP Presidential nomination.

The Patriot Act was enacted shortly after the infamous Osama bin Laden-inspired 9/11 attacks on American soil.

Although a U.S. Court had struck down Section 215 of the Patriot Act which permitted the collection of telephone billing records by the National Security Agency, it nevertheless wisely permitted the U.S. Congress to extend the entirety of that law while working to revise it or to enact new legislation in cooperation with the White House.

After Rand obstructed Senate action, Obama’s Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, embarrassingly explained that U.S. Security Agencies will be employing “workaround tools” until this problem is resolved.  He appeared unpersuasive, as he tried to assure the American people that homeland security will not be jeopardized during the interim.

A remedy that was too long in coming

Yesterday, the Courier News reported in a front-page article by Sergio Bichao that the Borough of Somerville settled a racial discrimination lawsuit for $1.75 million, while not admitting any wrongdoing.

A reading of that article coupled with a prior story on the same topic back on October 2, 2014, by Mike Deak, would lead most people to conclude that the alleged racist behaviors by Somerville personnel inflicted upon three African Americans under their supervision should have been fixed years ago.

Booking Along at the Fairgrounds

This afternoon was the last day to take advantage of the VNA’s semi-annual rummage sale at the Fairgrounds in Far Hills.  Twice yearly in the spring and fall, I religiously attend, browse around and enjoy the variety of people who are also there seeking bargains of their own.

Volunteers arrange books as patrons peruse shelves, (File, 05-06-2011)

Everyone has different tastes and a desire to pick up good buys.  Mine is books.  Because of my ever-growing library and the clear fact that I’ll never be able to read all of it, I almost passed up on the opportunity this year. 

 

Then I realized that no one can possibly read all of the books that constitute a good private library, but that is not the point.  Like good friends, one can never have too many in a lifespan, even though time and circumstances will take a person away from some of them.