06 October 2006

Losing An Internet Friend...

We're all part of this new technlogical realm, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not...we really are. And we've ALL lost friends of one sort or another, while some of us have lost family members.

But is it different when that "friend" is nothing but a bunch of *1s* and *0s* at the other end of some fiber optic cable or copper wire? Does this make that friend any LESS of a friend for not being able to stop over to their house for a cold one, or have a barbeque?

Not in the least, believe you me.

When other people come to know one another, there is that inate "bond" that is shared by those who plough the internet. Whether you met them in a chat room, a news group, a common interest site, or even a blog...they are JUST AS REAL as if you met them in a classroom, at the store, at the gas pump, or even at the PTA meetings.

Sure, there are those that dismiss all this, look at the internet at a novelty, the people mere avatars, with no "real" substance...and I would have to call these people WRONG.

Those we choose to know HERE...NOW, are as real as real can get, make no mistake about it.

And when they hurt...WE hurt...when they smile...WE smile.
When they lose a loved one...WE also lose someone we have come to know. We share our lives here, online in many cases, and some of us become lucky enough to find THAT someone...the person who we spend the rest of our lives with.....

I have lost an internet friend....he was from my home state of Pennsylvania, loved the same foods, knew the same places as I did, and was in many ways, someone who I wished I had met face-to-face. He has a son in Iraq who is doing well, and yet I can't help but wonder what will he think of this? How will this change HIS life? And my friend's wife....another dear (longtime) internet friend who is coping with this as best she can...how will she ever be able to talk with her best friend who was also her husband any longer?

You see? Whatever happens in REAL life ALSO happens to those ONLINE....it's JUST AS REAL...it's not a "vitual reality"...it IS reality!

Yeah, this all sounds a bit corny and melodramatic, but friends ARE friends, no matter where they are. Miles cannot separate the bond you develop for the internet "extended family".

Technology has taken much away from us, as a people....we've learned to cocoon ourselves from the outside, remaining at a keyboard, when we could be socializing in REAL TIME with REAL people. Yet, those we interact with here are no less valuable than those walking down our streets.

But for people that still hold values such as this close to them...this is really a moot point.

I will miss my internet friend as much as my best friend in Philly. And I consider myself lucky to have known him, even if I never met him face-to-face.

05 October 2006

It's STILL All About the NUMBERS...

In the first installment, I went into detail about "how" the FWPD COULD make some serious scratch by citing people with burned out license plate bulbs (a valid violation in the Fort Wayne ordinance books).
THIS time, we'll crunch some more figures regarding BOOMCARS (one of my *personal* favorites).

In a recent post to the FWPD discussion board, an officer stated the following:
((first citation for violation of noise ordinance from a vehicle is 250 dollars. second offense is 500, third is 750...i believe after 3 convictions the judge will order the equipment handed over to the courts..fyi this is a fort wayne city ordinance only and could differ outside fort wayne city limits..advice..if you must listen to your music loud, lower the bass, and roll the windows up..30 feet is not a significant distance... ))

Now...with THAT being said...let's do the math on this, shall we?

FACT: Last month (alone) in my neighborhood, we had about 390+ BOOMCARS driving about to all hours.
FACT: The FWPD "charges" $250 for the FIRST citation.
FACT: That comes to "about" $97,500.00! For ONE DAMN MONTH! That is....*IF* they had caught ALL of these jerkoffs...(which they obviously did'nt).
FACT: *IF* they had caught about 30% of them, the amount of revenue would still be about $32,500! Again, that's if the FWPD we're stringently ENFORCING the noise ordinance.

Which they apparently are NOT doing (sufficiently to satisfy my DESIRE for some peace and quiet).

I would be remiss if I didn't state that a LOT of those 390 boomcars LAST month were REPEAT offenders (and that can REALLY add up...can't it?) that SHOULD have been caught at least ONCE...don'cha think?

When I send pictures with license plate numbers of these chronic offenders to the FWPD, I'd *expect* something to come of MY part in this effort...well, that's what ANY citizen would EXPECT.

But sometimes, we must expect WAY TOO MUCH of the officers on the streets....aside from the FACT that it's been PROVEN that neighborhoods replete with BOOMCAR traffic quickly become havens for OTHER illicit activities (and I can say with conviction that observations such as that ARE true). Hell, I see (and hear) it EVERY DAMN DAY!

But yet...not much (if anything) gets done to quell this annoyance. Forget the fact that a traffic stop (for noise) could lead to an officer finding drugs or paraphenalia or even an illegal handgun in the vehicle, not to mention outstanding warrants... I read about routine traffic stops leading to this every day...just not too often around my area...lol!
That again would be hinting at some sort of PROACTIVE stance...and the police (in almost ANY major city) seem to be more a reactionary agency, than one noted for proactivity...I'd like to see that come around about 180 degrees! I'm more than willing to help them any way possible, and I think I've proven as much to them time and again.

If you don't take measures to nip things in the bud, then don't complain about needing more resources when budget time hits....mending fences after the horses get out is not the answer we, the taxpayers like to hear. You should have had a better fence IN PLACE...in the first place.

I hate to say it, but in THIS case...an OUNCE of prevention IS really worth a POUND of cure!

04 October 2006

Will Somebody PUH-LEASE Tell These People...?

With the shooting of the Amish girls in Lancaster, PA, I just KNEW it would be a matter of (brief) time before the ANTI-GUN folks would step up and take another shot (no pun intended) at the status quo.
Enter Paul Helmke...former mayor of Fort Wayne, now president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence who is again spouting for "more GUN control", as if we don't have enough NOW.

But you would say "That sounds fine to me...guns are the cause of SO much violent crime today"...and I would have to reply "No dummy...GUNS don't kill PEOPLE...P E O P L E kill PEOPLE"! Guns are as much to "blame" for crime as flies are to blame for GARBAGE...or cars are to blame for DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENTS! The airplanes (on 9/11) didn't fly into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center ALL BY THEMSELVES....did they?
GET WITH THE DAMN PROGRAM and take the time to EDUCATE YOURSELVES!

God...it amazes me the depths of stupidity some will dive to JUST to make a totally INVALID point. They should be MORE concerned about the POINT on their heads (the one with the word DUNCE written on it).

Helmke doesn't want to infringe on the rights of collectors, and those who "legitimately feel the need to have a gun". Really Paul? And who EXACTLY would "FEEL THE NEED" to have a gun, especially in TODAY'S society, hmm?

Lemme do the math on that............

Gee...let's say EVERY law-abiding citizen that is a potential victim thanks to perps who have NO regard for the law, NO regard for authority in general, will do ANYTHING to get what the hell THEY want, by whatever means, and will stop at nothing to get a gun ILLEGALLY...how's that SO far?

Cripes..you take a damn step out your door...you're basically "at risk" by some f$cking thug that has once AGAIN slipped through the ever-widening gaps of our severely flawed JUDICIAL system, is back on YOUR street, and sees YOU as a nice "pigeon", ready for plucking! People aren't even safe BEHIND their doors with all the HOME INVASIONS we hear about. This phrase was relatively UNKNOWN about 15 years ago, wasn't it? Not anymore!

Now let it be said that I AM ALL FOR having the gun dealers accountable. Let's face it, when they go and sell to perps with NO background checks, THAT is a recipe for disaster. The same goes for "straw purchasers"...those who buy up a $hitload of firearms for "someone else" while lying their ass of and saying all this hardware is for THEM. Also, let's have some credibility at gun shows....a LOT of firearms are bought there, and I'd be happy to see some dsort of background checks available at these venues for purchasers.

The technology DOES exist to make THESE things possible, but don't go and place ME under a microscope for owning a few guns....I'm not the one doing ANY of the crime.

One thing I DO know...there are a lot of guns on the streets, in the hands of people who don't deserve to have them in the first place. When you check our local felony report, all you see is "illegal posession of a handgun", of "posession of a handgun by a minor (or felon)". That simply will not fly in MY book, and does absolutely NOTHING to make ANY of our streets safer, does it?

Gun control? You MUST be f$cking kidding me....let's talk "PEOPLE" control instead. Learn to control those thugs that are doing the crime. Do more to get THEM off the street for a LOT longer. Make dealers accountable for their inventory and sales...ditto for gun shows.

It disgusts me to NO end when all these people want to dilute my 2nd amendment RIGHTS. Actually, I view gun ownership as a privilege as well, just like driving a car, because with certain rights AND privileges, there comes a RESPONSIBILITY, to which YOU are held accountable.
((amazing how those words KEEP coming up, isn't it?))

Start trusting those who FOLLOW the law...not those who BREAK it...fair enough?

So Paul...hands off my "stuff"...let ME do what I have to do to defend MY home, MY family, and even MY country. It's MY right, MY choice, and MY responsibility.

AS it is for EVERY single law-abiding citizen of this nation!

03 October 2006

Finally...There Is A Beacon (or Deacon) Of Light...

If anyone managed to catch the OP-ED page in Monday's Journal-Gazette, there was a column by a Reverend Bill McGill, senior pastor of Imani Baptist Temple in Ft. Wayne. In that article he RIGHTLY explains the use of the race card, and the IN-frequency that it should be "played".

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/15659169.htm

He states that FACTS should dictate involvement, and not suppositions or perceptions. He says that too many are REACTIVE, when they should be PROACTIVE. He stresses a better prioritization of the black community, and it's not with X-Boxes, bling, or celebrating girls becoming mothers. He says it doesn't matter who he "cheeses off" (he states he is treading on dangerous ground) in this process, for he feels that this NEEDS to be said....(way to go, Rev...)!

If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was peeping my blog...lol!

But that's fine, because what I state here is FACT, and I know if bothers some that might read it. Wel, that';s just too damn bad. If you don't like hearing the truth, then maybe you should start acting in a manner that doesn't call attention to you in a negative way, eh?

Still, *if* the NAACP would like to get back to basics, a good place to start would be to oust Michael Latham, and embrace Bill McGill, who obviously does NOT subscribe to the "Victicrat of the month club", as do others in his community.

I applaud Rev. McGill's rhetoric (which harkens back to a certain Martin Luther King, Jr.), as well as his stance on how best to not only serve HIS community, but everyone else in the process. It's high time a man of substance such as this stirs the pot, instead of just "letting it burn", as many before him have.

It's OK to boycott, as long as the CAUSE is just (such as illiteracy and illegitimacy) as Rev. McGill states. This man KNOWS what's going on.

Finally, someone GETS IT!
Even the AMISH Are No Longer Exempt...

Yesterday's terrible shooting of Amish schoolgirls (between the ages of 6-15) in Lancaster county, PA, is going to send a mixed bag of messages that will reverberate across the nation for some time. Evil has come to a people who shrug away from "our world and it's ways".

The man who killed 8 of these children "because he had a 20 year grudge" is nothing short of a monster to be sure, but how wide were the cracks that the system provided for this family man (with 3 children himself) that he managed to fall through anyway? This man had neither a grudge against the Amish NOR young girls, but yet he went against every profile in the book when he went on his rampage. How do we prevent our children from aniother occurance such as this, and more imporantly, how do we begin to determine the standards by which a mild man such as this becomes a killer, seemingly overnight?

The ONE immediate result will be that the anti-gun lobbyists will be out in FORCE, make so mistake about that, decrying the fact that "these guns" took the lives of these children. WRONG! It was the acts of ONE MAN (with those guns however he managed to get them) that precipitated this call to action. That would be a travesty on top of the tragedy.

When a pattern of school shootings occur with a frequency not seen in this nation, we have to ask ourselves what the REAL cause of this is, and it is NOT guns. The REAL instrument of this, or any other similar crime is the PERSON wielding the gun....just as the drunken person BEHIND THE WHEEL of a car is the instrument of the crash.

Unfortunately, it takes situations such as this to motivate others into action. We see it happen on inner city streets every day, and have become an increasingly insular people, save for those willing to fight this status quo. Too many just shake their heads, saying it's such a shame, when we should be trying to figure out the HOWs and the WHYs behind things like this.

What of any justice for the Amish? Because the killer took HIS OWN life, does that become payment for the lives HE viciously took? Does denying one's own life become a substitute or recompense for the taking of other innocent lives?

I can only trust that the Amish will leave it up to God to decide.

02 October 2006

It's That FIRST Week of the Month, AGAIN...

And we ALL know what that has come to symbolize, right?

(NO...it's not just the FIRST day of Yom Kippur)
(NO...it doesn't mark the start of "fall foliage")
(NO...it's not JUST 84 shopping days until Christmas)

It's WELFARE WEEK!!!

Yes indeed...the week when ALL liquor (especially the cheap $hit) is ON SALE! It's the week when ALL the GOOD meats will be gobbled up by lazy-ass people who will most likely screw up that beautiful sirloin tip roast you had YOUR eye on. It's the week when mailmen will be assaulted for "that check" from their dear uncle (Sam) that YOU, the working class have paid for in full.

Now let me state now and forever that I am NOT talking about those who are TRULY IN NEED....those people are trying to make ends meet, with this being merely a "stopgap", and NOT a WAY OF LIFE for them. I'm referring to the scores of undeserving, taxpayer-bilking, sit on their dead ass all day and do nothing but find ways to annoy others kind of people.

You can always tell who doing the WIC gig when you check out their shopping carts...filled to the brim with (mostly) "Crunch N Munch" and some type of cheap-ass orange drink...(the ghetto breakfast of "chumpions"). It amazes me that they even BUY anything for breakfast...hell, all their kids get the "freebies" at school anyway, right? Then they have the balls to leave the store and get into the NEW vehicle, be it a Caddy or SUV (parked of COURSE in the handicapped area with the obligatory sticker they also got for free by lying their ass off).

Thank the maker that a major "reform" for this is in the wind. States stand to lose a TON of $$$ if they don't start getting these people off the "dole" and into SOME type of work. I say "About damn time, too". It's no wonder that the Social Security system is going broke.....I'll wager the government is "borrowing" (after some fashion) monies from there to front the multi-generational welfare households, with NO regard to those who have paid their share by WORKING for a living. They just don't want the working-class to KNOW it, that's all.

Now I might be a tad wrong, but I wouldn't put it past our politicos to "rob Peter to pay Paul" in this regard. Maybe that's why they want us all OFF of SSN....they need the money for welfare...'ya think?
Granted that SSN was ALSO "supposed" to be a "stopgap" as well, but with rising inflation and incurred debt out the wazoo, it made sense to be able to have the populace have SOMETHING as a nest-egg when they retire, because Lord KNOWS most companies are about a reliable when it come to retirements as a dead employee showing up for work every day. Those days of the PENSION and the gold "pocket-watch" after 20+ years of service to a company are LOOONNGG gone! Cripes, you're lucky is you even still HAVE a company after 20 years THESE days!

SO...remember that when you go grocery shopping THIS week.....take a second to "people-watch", and see if YOU can spot those taking the rest of us for a ride.....THEN, go ask THEM for a lift home...LMAO!