Letter from Europe

[Barbara Nadel]

Just to let you all know first of all that I am fine. I was down in London last week and I did see some rioting but I didn't get hurt or even that frightened. Some kids just tried to break a cash machine out of a wall, they weren't interested in doing anything else. But a lot of shops and pubs were hit and some of the blame has been laid at the feet of the police. But that is far from being the whole picture. They did shoot an unarmed man, which started the whole thing off, but it was ready to blow and remains so. The cops stood back and let a lot of looting happen saving their numbers and energy, they say, for crimes against people. But a lot of damage was done and they did very little. That said, their numbers are being cut by the government and also the politicians were all in their villas in Tuscany at the time. Kids in our projects and even well educated kids like my son cannot get work, they're continually told that they must make sacrifices and yet all the criminals at the top of our society [[bankers, politicians, the super rich) get away with fleecing the rest of all all the time. If some of them paid proper tax it would help. I am not condoning what was done in the riots - that people lost their lives, homes and businesses is inexcusable, but so is the root cause of all this. Not that Prime Minister Cameron is listening. Oh no! All he wants to do is put still more people in our over crowded prisons and shut down Twitter and Facebook during times of civil unrest. Democracy? Does he even understand the word?

[Gannon]

You are not alone, the same game is being played out upon us here.

SO glad to hear you're OK...even inspired...after this event.

It is sunny and beautiful this morning, Barbara. Detroit misses you, too. At least the folks who know ya!


Cheers!
John

[Barbara Nadel]

Thanks, John. A beautiful sunny morning in Detroit would be a blast.