Archives for February 7, 2021

by Robert Sieben

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The spotted towhee is a large New World sparrow, roughly the same size as a Robin.

It has a long, dark fan shaped tail with white corners on the end. They have a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs. The spotted towhee is between 17 cm (6.7 in) and 21 cm (8.3 in) long, and weighs in at between 33 g (1.2 oz) and 49 g (1.7 oz). The spotted towhee has a wingspan of 11.0 in (28 cm).

Adult males have a generally darker head, upper body and tail with a white belly, rufous sides, white spots on their back and white wing bars. Females look similar but are dark brown and grey instead of black. The spotted towhee has white spots on its primary and secondary feathers; the Eastern towhee is the same bird in terms of its size and structure but does not have white spots.

The Steele report

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The Steele Report

When it comes to speaking before you think, my dad always said it is better to be silent and have people think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. My mother once cautioned, your first vocal statement is the testament of what you believe and the lie comes in trying to change it. They both gave good advice on how an apology should go. It required two words “I’m Sorry”
Everything else said is a justification for why your apology is insincere. As mom would say you are either sorry or you’re not.

All too often we hear apologies today that don’t square with the sincerity of an apology. This is not just in the case of our politicians. It is prevalent among community leaders, members of the clergy, and people charged with public trust. Not to mention apologies in personal relationships. I often wonder if what some are apologizing for getting caught saying or doing the wrong thing.

The problem also stems from the fact our confidence has been shaken when it comes to people we put in charge of trust. We as in the general public are partly to blame and I say that without an apology. It seems to me we are often quick to condemn or defend the actions of those in public life and often as not we do so based on our own personal vent rather than on the facts. We become enablers of bad behavior and serve to set the bar for expectations lower.

Here is a recent illustration. Regardless of which side of the debate you are on lets for a moment judge behavior on the merit of what happened. This has its beginning last summer in a town in Georgia. Prior to and preparing for a Black Lives Matter Demonstration two police officers had a discussion. One was the Chief Of Police, the other, one of his officers.

The substance of the discussion was the two, had no regard for those partaking in the demonstration. In fact they went so far as to defend the practice of slavery. They said after all the white masters provided free food, free clothing and free housing. All the slaves had to do was work. They made other crude sexual remarks and ill advised remarks for several minutes.

How do we know about it?

It turns out, one of the officers body cam and sound recorded it. An employee reviewing the body cam materials came across it last week. It ended up in the hands of a Television Newsroom crew. The fallout was immediate the Chief of Police apologized and resigned the officer was fired. When these incidents happen some are appalled. Some turned a blind eye and some paint all law enforcement with the same brush. Even worse many people who see an injustice still deny it happens.

To me it defies logic just how some people in authority can harbor such views and claim to be unbiased while applying the law. Others may differ.

The truth be known there are more egregious and lesser sins to apologize for but this is a clear cut case of sorry don’t cut it. The divine justice here is, they incriminated themselves by way of recording their own ignorance.

 

 

 

Fred Steele

Oliver Daily News