1. yes, I've taken money from the government. Bet you have, too. I've received. Tax refunds, unemployment and even some money from a victims' relief fund. Next year I'll probably start collecting Social Security. These are all monies to which I was or will be entitled. How about you?

2. Yeah, I've seen some of the Tea Party name calling and I don't like it, either. Regardless, the vast majority who post here are conservatives and Republicans, so my issue is with them since I am a liberal, have been painted with a very broad brush and I have yet to resort to calling anyone here a name. Thought it a couple of times, but haven't said it.

3. I really don't care who started the Black Lives Matters movement. What does matter to me and should to you is the simple fact that young men of color are more likely to be stopped by police when they have done nothing wrong or, at the most, committed a minor infraction for which a young, white male would not be stopped. Justice, including those who work for the police department, should be colorblind. If you wouldn't stop someone white for doing whatever, you shouldn't stop someone black for the same thing. There is something terribly wrong when a father has to sit down and tell his son how to act when stopped by a police officer because the father is afraid his son will be killed if he acts like a normal kid. I never had to tell my daughter how to behave other than the very basic be respectful and polite. Did you? Ask a black man the instructions he feels he has to give his son, how often he has been stopped for no reason other than for being black in a white neighborhood. And even someone who has committed a crime deserves better than dying while at the mercy of the police. So, yes, I do believe in BLM and will continue to do so. It is more than a way to get money. Monetary damages may help get the message across that a certain behavior is intolerable but it certainly doesn't pay for the loss of a child.

And, no, I wasn't at the protest. I did some work in the morning, played bridge with my favorite partner in the afternoon, shed some tears at the end of the Honor Flight ceremony at Colony, enjoyed a lovely evening with friends.

Red