Friday Odds & Ends - "Hunter Moon" Edition...

We made it to another Friday, hopefully unscathed by the vicissitudes of the past week, so let's celebrate by taking some well-deserved time off to see what's occurring elsewhere.
Like I said in the header, tonight is the night of the "Hunter Moon", and that's usually the "largest" moon we see all year.

The moon is the closest it gets to earth this year (thankfully), and should provide some nice viewing...if the clouds from the rain we're supposed to be getting don't muck things up. Figures we might not get a chance to see this.

I mean I only have to wait ANOTHER ENTIRE YEAR before it comes around again, right?

Meanwhile...back at the ranch....

A Tale of Two Carstops:

No, this isn't an updated SEQUEL to the Dickens' novel, but rather another case of stripping the police of the powers we have entrusted to them. If you recall, back on Tuesday, I spoke about a magistrate that tossed evidence in a carstrop, citing an "unreasonable" search had been conducted (you basically can't ask a driver if they have DRUGS on them any longer...even if they exhibit behavior that confirms this). Well, get ready for round TWO in making the roads even LESS safe for you and your families. Another bit of evidence was tossed in another carstop case...this time a HANDGUN (Illegally carried by the driver). Cripes, it looks like the Indiana Court of Appeals has been taking "lessons" from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court out on the "LEFT" coast with these asinine decisions. A FWPD officer pulled over a man for speeding back in 2005, took him into custody for possession of marijuana and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. That makes the streets SAFER for all of us, right? Well, it seems the officers searched the car (which seems perfectly in line considering the drugs involved) and found a HANDGUN under the driver's seat (yeah, I know...he was "holding it for a friend"). That added fuel to the fire, as the driver was a (former) violent felon in possession of a firearm. Now these namby-pamby judges and magistrates "rule" that the police did NOT have "probable cause" to search the vehicle (if I had the time and space, I give you a laundry list of why it WAS probable cause), and wouldn't allow the gun to be used as evidence.

You Hoosiers (as well as other-staters that read these posts) need to pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the increasing number of these "rulings", as the judges and magistrates are NOT looking out for YOU our your families...unless you're OK with having drugged-out felons with illegal firearms in their possession swerving and speeding all over the streets you drive on. If you're NOT comfortable with having your children at risk as well, because this guy could just as easily have hit a school bus, then stick up for those LEOs you pay for; the ones who are there to PROTECT you. And take these judges to task for bending the law to suit the perps.

A Tree Falls In Brooklyn:

Well, maybe not in BROOKLYN...try Fort Wayne. Had a former neighbor knock on my door yesterday wanting me to bring my camera down to their house (that they're in the process of selling).

When I got there, I had a "WTF?" moment.

The huge and relatively dead elm tree on the property next to theirs decided to shed some unwanted pounds...in the form of a HUGE limb (more like a part of the main trunk). It hit my neighbor's house, knocking the gutter loose, damaging the downspout, and denting the side flashing. It BARELY missed her year-old Pontiac.

Limbs were everywhere, and part of that trunk is still hanging like a wishbone precariously near their house. Now since this tree is dead, it won't take much to bring more of the tree down...gravity is funny like that. It's not like the person living next door hasn't had a chance to do anything about this. She's been saying for EIGHT years that she "should get the tree cut down". Well, time to pay the piper, toots.

That tree is coming down all by itself.

You also have to consider that the woman next door to my former neighbor has used meth and pot (she still may be using), hangs with a dubious cadre of local flotsam (read white trash), and is a member of the "boyfriend of the month" club.

Yessiree...a real ROLE MODEL for her two teenage boys if EVER I saw one. Anyway, I took some pictures of the fallen limbs and the tree for insurance purposes, and the woman next door has GOT to have this tree taken down...and by some PROFESSIONALS (with a 3-man team, some pulleys, heavy-duty rope and a cherry picker) unless we want even MORE damage to property. But knowing the way people act around here, some joe-blow fly-by-night drunks will climb the tree by hand with a chainsaw in an attempt to de-limb this monument to apathy.

To use an "Arnold" line from Predator: "Bad idea".

But you have to realize...it's the SOUTH side of Ft. Wayne we're dealing with.

News Quickies:

Hillary Clinton is 60 (big fat hairy deal).

I'm 55, don't talk out of both sides of my mouth, and am NOT married to Billy-Boy.
Income taxes might rise.

What did you expect with property tax relief?

New Airbus A380 takes flight.

Tell me AGAIN why we need DOUBLE BEDS on a huge freaking airplane when flights rarely last more than a few hours? Mile-high club members?
Comcast takes 51% hit in profits:

Guess even the "big dog" gets long in the tooth after a while. We call it healthy competition, guys. Get used to it.
Ft. Wayne records 21st homicide:

MY number in "the pool" is 25...got a shot at the win THIS year too. Indy is almost at 100, and Philly is over 320. It can ALWAYS be worse.

Speaking of which, on this day in history, back in 1881 - The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral took place (nice shootin', Wyatt).

And as for this blogging middle-ager...I am outta here!

Do have a SAFE Weekend.