Views from Point Breeze

It was supposed to be a family outing to celebrate the anniversary of the married couple.  Alexian Lien and his family were enjoying a beautiful day when they encountered a multitude of bikers that had taken over a highway in New York.  As on observer to this unfolding tragedy, I thought that the bikers must have had a permit because there was almost no other traffic on the highway but the bikers and Mr. Lien and his family.  We are finding out after the fact that the bikers had blocked entrances to the highway in order to enjoy unfettered access to the road.  I would assume that this action was illegal but the courts will have their say. One can notice traffic on the other side of the highway as though it is a normal day. An incident initiated by a biker precipitated the next chain of events.  Christopher Cruz pulled in front of Mr. Lien and his family, slowed down, and was bumped unintentionally by the vehicle.  Mr. Lien slowed down and was surrounded...

I just read an article today about a boat capsizing off of the Italian island of Lampedusa.  It is reported that at least 110 people died.  Almost 500 people were packed on the ship.  All of the individuals were in search of a better life.  This island, according to reports on CNN, has become a destination for tens of thousands of refugees seeking to enter European Union countries.  There were Eritreans, Somalis and Ghanaians aboard the ship. I think about the story behind this mass movement of discontented people.  Eritrea is an African nation in the Horn of Africa with less than 6 million people.  I say this figure without much knowledge of overcrowding or present living conditions.  There is currently no civil war in Eritrea.  The country found independence from Ethiopia after a brutal 30 year war.  The leader, President Isaias Afewerki, keeps the citizens on a permanent state of alert for the possibility of continued warfare with ...