A "Spooktacular" Humpday...
We're going to be running the gamut of emotional content today, so buckle up...it's the (ridiculous) law.

On a sad note:
Grammy-winning singer/actor Robert Goulet has died awaiting a lung transplant in California. He was 73 years old. Most noted for his portrayal of Sir Lancelot in the musical CAMELOT, I remember him best for his various TV appearances as I was growing up. Watching him on all those variety shows such as Ed Sullivan, belting out Broadway and popular tunes was something my whole family took time out to view. Many younger people might recall him in more recent fare (movies) such as The Naked Gun 2 1/2, or even Beetlejuice.
I always thought if he EVER wanted to get rid of any monogrammed items, I could take them off his hands...we share the SAME initials (AND first name). He died of a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis and had quit smoking over 15 years ago.
And although the voice is now silent...the songs will go on.
Thanks, Bob!

Henry-Kelty Debate:

This one went better (imho) than the last one, with both candidates seeming more "at ease", but I will have to admit that the grammatical mistakes and faux-pas were simply a train wreck. They could both use some polishing in that area. The content of what they said was good. I only have two points of contention:
1) Henry wanting to form another (regional) council for economic development (not smaller government by any stretch of the imagination).
2) Kelty not answering the south side issue to "my" complete satisfaction (although his answer did make sense regarding the city as a whole (not a "hole", as in financial pit). Aside from that, I think that many voters might be more undecided than before. Time will tell.

Tongue in Cheek Time:
Oh, no...it's Trick Or Treat Time, and aside from watching GARFIELD'S HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE on the trusty (Beta) VCR (the DVD hasn't arrived yet, so sue me) with a refreshing beverage, I'm not doing one blessed thing else. Those kids can knock until their knuckles chafe.
And in that vein, I dug up part of the post from LAST HALLOWEEN in case you've forgotten the "rules of engagement". Since I don't plan to participate, feel free to apply AS MANY OF THESE as is pertinent to YOUR particular situation when the "Beg-A-Thoners" stop on by.
Rule #1: You show up WITHOUT a costume....you have TWO choices:
a) You can just turn around and LEAVE, or (my favorite) ...
b) Show me you're WORTHY of my free candy WITHOUT a costume by jumping through the FLAMING HOOPS I have set up on my lawn, OK? If the folks can't blow TEN bucks to get you SOME kind of costume (and dressing in mom's old clothes could bring up gender confusion issues, even though it's FREE), then just spend TWO bucks for some of your OWN candy (**hint: after the 31st, ALL the HALLOWEEN candy is 50% OFF...check Walgreens and CVS)!
Rule #2: If you're OLDER than say....12 years old, you better either have a DAMN GOOD (original) costume, or you better have the mental state of a 3 year old. Either one will get you treats! Anything else will get you a front door closed in your pre-pubescent face! If you're THAT old...just stop at Lassus Handy-Dandy and grab a bag of M&Ms for yourself, lazy-ass!
Rule #3: Face paint ALONE does NOT a costume make....Even SOLDIERS wear a UNIFORM WITH their face paint, and Indians have horses and head-dresses.....so...NO horse, NO head-dress...NO treats, Kimosabi!
Rule #4: If you are coming to my house on Halloween with a BUNCH of friends...be advised, I WILL be "packing" (to politely dissuade you from a home invasion)!
Rule #5: Don't try taking a "short cut" across MY lawn to cross the street (the barbed wire and punji sticks I have up will do a real number on your legs and feet...trust me)! Better to stay ON the sidewalk that the city provided with your parents' tax dollars!.
Rule #6: DO NOT show up at the house as a ZOMBIE, LIVING-DEAD person, or some sort of analogous entity. If I EVER want to see the living dead (aside from a George Romero flick), all I have to do is watch MOST of the non-working "neighbors on welfare" that have NO future (past the next bottle of malt liquor or blunt) meander through their pitiful lives. Also...NO ELMOS!
Rule #7: When I ask you to take what you want from the huge bowl of candy, that DOES NOT MEAN grab every damn single piece OF candy.....taking EVERYTHING should NEVER be a choice...it means be SELECTIVE and COURTEOUS...others might want to drop on by, 'K?
Rule #8: If you don't like what we GIVE (free) to you, don't even think about retaliatory measures....I've already PLANNED for THAT contingent...(heh, heh, heh)...and you might not like the result (did I mention NO ELMOS?).

So there you are...MY "Eight Simple Rules" for handling Halloween. I think it's more in the "spirit" of the evening, and if you want to get a slice of what exactly this curmudgeon's been going on about, I DARE you to watch Garfield's Halloween Adventure (if you can find a copy).
Funny thing...they WILL show The Great Pumpkin, but DON'T televise Garfield (here) in INDIANA, which is the HOME of Jim Davis, the CREATOR of Garfield...
What's up with that?

In the meantime...Keep your kids safe out there tonight, and have fun (if you must)...LOL!

Another "Crime Scene"...
With the holiday season approaching like a jail on wheels, one would think that the LAST thing that could happen would be the loss of several hundred jobs in our area.
Well, think again.
Problem-plagued Kitty Hawk air cargo service has "turned turtle", and given up the ghost, laying off about 300 people. All services at the FWIA's facility have ceased. But that's only part of the "crime" here.
There is this little thing about a $24 million bond that was floated (by the city for Kitty Hawk)...and someone's got to pay the piper. How's THAT for a "tax incentive"? I wonder what other tax abatements and perks they received that we don't even KNOW about (that will never be repaid)?
The original plan was for Kitty Hawk to pay $2.4 annually on a 20-year lease on the space (a 240,000 sq. ft. cargo warehouse) utilized by the carrier. I sure hope they have a "plan B", because that first plan didn't quite pan out too well...did it?
The former FWIA board president, Skip Miller (who "jumped ship" for greener pastures in Louisville several years ago), had said the lease payments would be paid through the airport authority general revenue and budget cuts. Any shortfall would have to be paid by...(I trust all of you are sitting down)...INCREASING PROPERTY TAXES.
(This better NOT be Plan B!)
What have I been TELLING you all along?
See how these people work?
I suppose this will put SOME kind of kink in the FWIA'S plan to get that SECOND North-South runway parallel to 2-3 built. Oh well, at least they got a brand new TOWER up before this $hit hit the (turbo)fan. Guess that "20 year master plan" will just have to wait. The major reasons cited for the cessation of operations was higher fuel costs, lower demand for overnight cargo hauling, and the already deteriorated financial condition of Kitty Hawk.
Airport spokespeople could not comment further (they're too busy looking for razor blades to slash their wrists, or some strong rope to hang themselves, I'll wager).
When Kitty Hawk first came to town in 1999, I had reservations, and when they promptly went into their FIRST bankruptcy in 2000, that should have sent a TON of red flags up somewhere. But the FWIA gave them the benefit of the doubt (as our taxes went up in the process).
Then there was the advent of two NEW carriers coming into FWIA, namely ARROW and CENTURION (both of which are based in either Miami or Central America), and heaven only KNOWS what kind of "tax incentives" THEY received. And although both these carriers have had fewer flights into the airport (as I can plainly view as they overfly my house coming into the airport UNDER the FAA minimum altitudes with their jumbo jetliners), they have to be considered as "players" in Kitty Hawk's demise.
So...did the FWIA authority try burning the candle at BOTH ends here?
It would seem so.
And who winds up with hot wax all over them?
The taxpayers, probably.
All the while, the FWIA meanders along, impervious to challenges by the taxpaying populace, as well as oblivious to what they've done TO the citizens of this city. And you KNOW that whatever they present to city council will most likely be passed (that would be increases in taxes somewhere).
Consider Kitty Hawk Air Cargo "bagged and tagged".
I think it's time we called the "FINANCIAL FORENSICS" people in on this to determine the REAL cause of death, because I don't think we're quite done with the head count on this crime.

Tales...From The SOUTH Side...
Mark this as being one of those "When you think things can't possibly go from bad to worse...they DO" days (that would be this past weekend).
Let's start off with those intrepid (or is that INSIPID?) "tree trimmers" that the woman down the block retained to defoliate the dead tree that damaged my former neighbor's house last week. They DID hire a cherry-picker (courtesy of Taylor Rentals), and I DID hear a chainsaw...for about a HALF-HOUR. Nothing but silence after that. Seems one of these "pros" cut the power cable from the basket to the main engine, ergo...that basket wouldn't move if you threatened it. This had all the "boyz" standing around like City Supervisors on a road crew (that would be 5 supervising...one working). The guy from the rental agency was on the cell all afternoon trying to get someone out to repair or replace the cable. And of course, we had the "know-it-all" waving his hands in an animated fashion, as if to more FULLY explain how he turned this job into one amazing "cluster-f$ck". I'll tell you...the ONLY way to shut this guy's piehole is to BREAK BOTH HIS DAMN ARMS!
A technician came about 5PM, and after fixing the cherry-picker, that was the "end of that shift". No work has been done since. Needless to say, that dead tree is STILL standing, with the branch in question no longer looking like an upside-down wishbone, but turned 90 degrees instead. Yeah, that looks a HELLUVA lot safer, buttheads! Of course, refreshments were served (read everyone constantly had a BEER in their mitts throughout the entire day).
Gee, I wonder if THAT had ANYTHING to do with not being savvy enough to KNOW what the hell they were doing? NAAHHHH....
At least it was enjoyable to watch...I'll give them THAT much. It's refreshing to know that the blind can still lead the blind. Bet they'd have the guide dog drunk in ten minutes, too.

Let me paraphrase a marvelous George Carlin saying:
"Living in Fort Wayne is like being given tickets for a FREAK SHOW. And living on the SOUTH side of Fort Wayne is like getting FRONT ROW SEATS"!

But wait...we're not done...yet.
Later the same day, our *newer* computer (an H/P Pavilion 500S) decided that it's "virtual memory was low". We barely use it, and only to augment THIS dog here when IT crashes. I figure a nice DEFRAG is in order (haven't done one in a while)...only the system doesn't "want" to DO a defrag. So, I power it off and try to begin anew. This time the system doesn't even boot...it keeps TRYING to boot, but gets into some kind of "loop" thing, never giving me any "welcome" screen.
Welcome to the world of Windows XP!
After checking online for a solution (which could be anything from a power supply fuse to corrupt BIOS...or more), we decide we're going to celebrate the holidays EARLY this year and get it looked at by STONE COMPUTER (way uptown, as is everything we "need"). They're good people there, and get things done quickly. Well, that was one damn nice drive (18 miles round trip)...less traffic, managed a few green lights, and it turned out to be an otherwise TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND GAS! They are CLOSED on SUNDAYS! (who'da thunk?) The ONLY store in this whole freaking town of 250,000 people that "we" need/have to visit on a Sunday...and they're CLOSED. What are the chances, eh? I CAN get better odds at a casino!
So, Mrs. "B.G." will be taking the system into the shop tomorrow and we'll see what shakes out. We're most likely going with a larger capacity H/D too, as this memory thing's got me stymied. I'd like to see the memory "run low" with 250 GIGABYTES on freaking board!!! (Yeah, I dare you to run out of memory NOW....)
And lastly, while I was fussing and fuming with technology, my wife went to a sorority gig in Muncie. I made sure she had film (real film that is) for her camera as well as extra batteries. Well, she didn't LOAD the film in the camera (assumed I did, and we all know that tale about when you "assume" things). As a result, she "took" about 16 pictures that will never get developed. The film as still in the canister in the camera pouch...untouched (oopsie). **Note to self, next time...take nothing for granted....Got it!

In the meanwhile, I'm relying (heavily) on THIS turkey (and it's not EVEN Thanksgiving) to hold up until we get IT in the shop for...let's see...a new motherboard (with more RAM and a faster processor), power supply (this fan's crapping out), CD-ROM drive (old one went bye-bye), keyboard (one with letters on it so I can read what I type...LOL), and a larger H/D with "maybe" a second H/D (80Gb)...just for the heck of it.

Other than that...life in the virtual world couldn't be BETTER!
(couldn't be much frigging WORSE either, come to think of it)
I most likely will (again) launch into some tirade in the near future about how technologies keep "sucking us in", due to all the constant "changes" and such...(like doctors and hairdressers), and if you don't know what I mean now...trust me, you WILL know later.
So stay tuned...it only gets better...or worse depending on how you handle YOUR caffeine.

And in the immortal words of Controller McCrosky (Lloyd Bridges) from the movie AIRPLANE: "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking".
http://www.moviewavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Airplane&quote=smoking.txt&file=smoking.wav
Just don't wish me "good luck"...this is AS GOOD as it's going to get. (besides... you wouldn't want MY luck anyway...trust me)
;)

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.

Like A Jail On Wheels...

One thing you can always say about the future...IT'S COMING. And in most cases, gets here a lot sooner than you had anticipated. Question is - are YOU ready for it?
Last night while watching THE O'REILLY FACTOR I got a disturbing glimpse into America's future. And it's not all that pretty a picture.
Now first let me state that YES, I DO watch Bill O'Reilly. He's a good journalist, a good debater, an excellent author, and pretty darned entertaining as well. Then again, he IS a contemporary of mine. We're not too far apart on issues as well as age, and he's from the east coast, so he knows what a REAL deli sandwich is...LOL! The one point we don't agree on is the death penalty. I'm for it...he's against it. And if the ONLY point of contention I can find with the man, that's fine with me. I'd still buy him a drink at ANY pub...anytime.

But on last night's show, in conjunction with his latest book (Americans Are Kids, Too) they did a "man on the street" segment, asking teens a very pertinent question:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AMERICAN and WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU OWE THIS NATION?
The answers were troubling.
Most every kid did not know what it "meant" to be an American (lack of patriotic spirit, no doubt), and most all also felt that they DID NOT "owe" America ANYTHING. Rather, they thought America OWED THEM. As to what this nation owes them...they wouldn't (or couldn't) articulate. When asked if they would think about serving in the military, some snickered and smirked and said "yeah, right...no way". Not ONE of them mentioned the flag, our struggle to become a free nation, denying tyranny on our shores, or even what made America the greatest nation on the planet. Some kids would even consider moving to another country (maybe we should take up a collection for their TICKETS now).
Without exception, these kids think they owe nothing...to no one, and in the same breath EXPECT everything from everyone. Anyone think something's WRONG with that picture?
My Dad would always say: "You must think the world owes you a living" when it came to being lazy, disingenuous, or otherwise selectively ignorant.
And he was right.
And one can look no further than in our inner cities....many people there "think" the world owes them a living, and in most cases, we find a way to make their belief a reality. That's wrong for all the right reasons.

When *we* were kids, we knew what it meant to say the Pledge of Allegiance, place our hand over our hearts and look at our flag. We grew up from parents, who just one generation before fought against a power that would have enslaved the world, giving their lives in pursuit of that noble goal. We played with army men, wanted to be soldiers (we didn't think about boot camp, unfortunately...lol), and we were brought up to believe we were some of the most fortunate people on this planet...and with good reason.
Our parents had civic, moral, and ethical values that they passed down to us; values that embraced patriotism, as well as the yearning to return something back to a country that gave us so much, and we're just talking about monetary or tangible items. it's the INTANGIBLES that we oft times forget about. perhaps it's ignorance that causes this...or maybe we're too just doing "our own thing" to even be bothered, and that's WORSE than ignorance.

Somehow, we've lost or way regarding this. We preach tolerance and diversity over civility and ethics. We'd much rather embrace everyone else's "uniqueness" than acknowledge our own, first and foremost. We dumb down the educational system to allow everyone a "fair shake' at passing, rather than holding everyone to (even) higher standards and promoting personal accountability. We deny justice for many in lieu of "fairness" in justice for "all". The funny thing is...these kids (today) are not unlike kids of MY era...they learn by watching others. And they learn all too QUICKLY, too. This iPod generation, concerned with self-gratification and hedonistic pursuits (at most any price) is nothing less than the prerequisite of the situation that felled the Roman Empire...and we're apparently OK with our kids being this way.
Or are we?

Maybe we should back up a few generations and start afresh, before we find ourselves slipping too far down a certain slope, with no possible chance of recovery. Like the song goes..."I believe the children are our future...teach them well, and let them lead the way".
Perhaps if we start setting the bar HIGHER for OURSELVES first...then the kids might begin to emulate THAT, instead of the poor examples they HAVE been following. I feel America is still great...we've just gotten sidetracked with that belief. But we can get it back. We must if for nothing else, then for our children.
The precipice is closer than a lot of us think...and that precipice is the future.
It's time to decide...we either fly...or we fall.

Hump-Day Happenings...
Half-way home.....and we're waiting for that weekend. Time for some snippets from around the region, the globe, or wherever else the wind is blowing.

The Man With The Plan - Part 1:
Gov. Mitch Daniels unveiled his property tax proposal last night, and it's got most of the things I said he should do, such as raise the SALES tax 1%. He also plans to hold property taxes at 1% of the home's value and supplement those taxes with the state's surplus (nice to know all that TOLL ROAD money is being put to SOME good use). The entire method of reassessment will be looked at with changes in the offing.
Can we say "about damn time"?
(it IS an election year)
I strongly feel that the "sin taxes" should have been raised as well. And it's a DAMN shame you can't tax STUPIDITY, or this state would be SO far out of the "red", it would take CENTURIES to incur another deficit in ANY city, town, or good old borough. What troubles me is that locally, we STILL have those over THIRTY "entities" that can levy increases, so...where are THEY going to be getting ALL THEIR money when Daniels caps property tax raises lower than in previous years and tells them all that the well's run dry? Wonder how the FWCS will like that...or the ACPL...or the FWIA? This will be interesting to watch. (and keep those out-of-state movers on speed dial...just in case).

The Man With The Plan - Part 2:
Last night also had the mayoral debate between Kelty and Henry, so it was a tossup as whether to watch them or Jeopardy (FYI- Alex won that round). While both men stated much of what we here in Fort Wayne had already heard before, the debate was not so much a debate PER SE, but more like a Q&A session, or as I prefer to call it: "Ask Me Another". A REAL debate would have good to watch. But this IS Fort Wayne.

Absolutely No Plan:
Looks like the UAW is hitting the picket lines again. International Truck employees are out "doing the walk", and Chrysler employees might not be far behind, as they rejected their latest contract proposal (first time since the 80's, btw).

OK...So Here's The Plan:
Southern California wildfires still burn, and with 250,000+ people evacuated, what's the best way to handle this? (remember...it IS California) That's right...do NOTHING (or as little as possible). It's all right, though. The firefighters have decided to let the fire burn itself out, rather than endanger themselves further by attempting to halt it.With the Santa Ana winds subsiding, luck will be shifting to THEIR side of the poker table finally.

You Call THIS A Plan?
A new Mc'Ds opened on the SOUTH side of town recently, and there's nothing really new about that, BUT....what you might not know is that they also got a nice, "healthy" TAX BREAK (not to be confused with their menu). A tax abatement to the tune of $242,812 in property taxes now belongs to them.
And the city worries about having enough tax money to fund city services....pshaw!
Let's mention that this is the THIRD Mc'Ds to go up in this area. There USED to be one on South Anthony near the firehouse (but it closed). And there was the one INSIDE of SOUTHTOWN Mall (which was a nice place, but alas, that closed too when the city ignored this part of town, allowing the mall to close). So now we have a brand-spanking NEW one near Southtowne Centre (there's that damn silent *E* again), and they get a tax BREAK because (in councilman Glynn Hines' words) "It's critical to draw new investment to the city's south side".
Gee, Glynn...what the hell have I been harping about for almost TEN freaking years? And STILL you guys let Southtown Mall crumble back into the good earth. I don't see any tax abatement coming MY way either, because I live down here, and keep MY property looking nice enough to "draw investors" to MY neighborhood (such as REAL HOME OWNERS and not a bunch of section 8 flotsam posing as human beings).
Must be nice, guys.
Wish I could talk out BOTH side of MY mouth.

Now THIS IS A Plan:
Space shuttle Discovery was launched and made orbit yesterday, taking with it another piece of the ISS (International Space Station). basically, it's a bus-sized docking port, and will require FIVE spacewalks to accomplish. This marks the FIRST TIME is history that WOMEN are commanding the shuttle mission as well as the space station.
You go, girls!
It might still be a "man's" world, but SPACE is still UP FOR GRABS.

And there you have it... news from our part of the world and beyond, coming right at you!
...at the Speed of Life!

Aw Geez...Say It Ain't So...

Yepper, we can file this post under the tried and true axiom that: "If it's not ONE damn thing, it's ANOTHER" (judicially-speaking).

We've had another shooting on the southeast side of the city, and the vic is still alive. This happened around 2300 hrs. last night on the 4700 block of Barrington Drive (near Hessen Cassel). We can add this with the strongarm robbery/mugging at about 0600 hrs. in the 5900 block of Decatur Rd. this past Friday.
But these crimes are only the tip of a MUCH LARGER iceberg, people.

In Marion County, the courts are tossing cases based on evidence gleaned from officers who were not "re-sworn" in when the police departments were merged. Now anyone with half a frigging brain KNOWS that when you're sworn in, there is no "do overs".
You are sworn in...period.
Whether it's a city, county, state, or federal agency...when you are SWORN IN...you don't keep getting "re-sworn" in every time you jump departments, get promoted, or get transferred. And you certainly don't get UN-SWORN when you leave a department for any reason, especially when you retire. On the "idiocy" meter, this one's got it almost PEGGED at the top. Again, it's another case of allowing the perps to get away with whatever, while the enforcement agencies we PAY for with OUR hard-earned money basically get their cajones excised.

But wait...we're not done yet...it gets EVEN BETTER.
Pick up today's paper, and the headline will tell yet another tale of judicial "woe". All of a sudden, we have FWPD officers violating Indiana Constitutional laws when it comes to traffic stops. They (now) apparently cannot ask about DRUGS when initiating a traffic stop. You heard me...they can't do it. How freaking ridiculous is that?
The Indiana Court of Appeals (who just moved to the TOP up my "$hit-list") states that this is a case if "first impression". Gee, we used to call it PROBABLE CAUSE, you freaking morons!

((an officer stops a moped driver who had been SWERVING all over the centerpoint of the road, although the road did NOT have a "formal painted centerline". During the stop, the officer asked the driver if he had any weapons, drugs or anything that could harm the officer. The driver stated he had some pot. He was arrested and charged with misdemeanor drug possession)).

Seems OK with me...nothing I haven't seen or heard before.
Everything (as documented) appears normal. End of story, right?
WRONG.

Allen Superior (read INFERIOR) Court Magistrate Robert Ross (makes me want to change my FIRST name now) tossed out the pot as evidence, saying the officer violated (get this) the state's constitutional protections against UNREASONABLE search and seizure. I think Magistrate Ross needs to pick up a copy of THE LAW OF ARREST, SEARCH AND SEIZURE (by J. Shame Creamer)...hell, he can borrow MY copy, (but I DO want it back, Bobby)!
The officer claimed that the driver was acting nervous (we call it by other names...hinky, twitchy, tweaky, antsy...whatever), and didn't make eye contact (they don't because of pupil dilation). The court said that wasn't enough to justify the "question" (and apparently the arrest).
So...you want to get out of an arrest?
STEP-1: JUST ACT NERVOUS.
STEP-2: GET AN AMBULANCE-CHASING LIBERAL AS A DEFENDER
STEP-3: SPLIT HAIRS WHEN IT COMES TO THE LAW...IT WORKS.
STEP-4: REMEMBER: PERPS RULE -VICTIMS DROOL.

This ruling DOES uphold the officer's right to ask about WEAPONS (well, la-dee-da).

Now forgive me for invoking a bit of logic here, but the COURT wasn't "at the scene", and therefore cannot (in good conscience) make such an arbitrary ruling about whether the officer had a "gut feeling" that something was greasy with this guy. If magistrate Ross would get his well-paid, robed ass on the street and make a few stops in the "Badlands", maybe HE'D get the picture as to what an officer KNOWS by what he's been trained to observe, and what his instincts tell him. The state attorney general has 30 days to decide to appeal the ruling (Yo, Steve Carter...here's your chance to make a difference for everyone and let the LEOs do their jobs).
FWPD spokesman Mike Joyner stated: "there are no specific questions officers are instructed to ask, but each officer develops their own instincts, depending upon the circumstances and their observations". That's like when you're in a drug-infested area, and you make a traffic stop for a burned out bulb...you just KNOW you've got a damn good chance that this gangsta driver in his brand new Escalade with the spinner rims, who's tooling around at 3AM and smells of weed isn't coming home from "work". Let's get real here. Officer Joyner also says: "It gives us no reason to panic, only to reinforce documentation and articulation so we can show we are acting within the scope of the law".

All I can say is...let police work remain in the hands of the POLICE...and NOT some appeals court. This isn't California. We don't need to molly-coddle the perps the way THEY do out there. We need to set strong anti-crime precedents, and not follow a bunch of tree-huggers off the nearest judicial cliff. We pay to hire the officers...the least we can do is let them perform their jobs.

And commend them for doing what they do, to make ALL of us a bit safer.

Monday Musings...

~I'm sure there are those of you reeling from the Indians' defeat by the Bosox for the AL championship, but as they always say: "It was their game to win or lose". And lose it they DID. Cleveland was beaten (more like a freaking MUGGING) in the final two games of the playoffs by Boston, and in many ways was like watching MAJOR LEAGUE all over again, except there was no Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen, and Charlie Sheen to "rescue" the team. You think even THEY could have helped?

~Let this be a lesson to those you that think having "pet" monkeys around is a "cute" thing. The deputy mayor of New Delhi India fell to his death from a balcony when he was attacked by a group of wild monkeys. The "gang" of Rhesus macques (who attacked the official) apparently made a clean getaway, after the deputy mayor was rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to head injuries suffered from the fall. Actually, it wasn't the fall that caused his death...it was that sudden STOP at the bottom.

~Thousands of black men turned out Sunday to support a volunteer effort aimed at reducing violence in the crime plagued city of Philadelphia (the city of brotherly love, btw), lining up in front for several blocks to register. One of the reasons I left Philly was the increasing crime, and in areas not previously known for such activities. You hear stories from all over Philly these days, and even the Great Northeast is no longer immune. Imagine my surprise when after moving HERE (Ft. Wayne) crime was closer and more prevalent, even with the lower population (hence my purchasing of firearms - something I never had to DO in Philly).

The nation's SIXTH largest city with a population of 1.5 MILLION (44% being black - seems this pattern is getting way too repetitive) has notched MORE than 320 homicides (thus far - Indy take note of your possible future) this year. More than 80% of the crimes involved handguns and were perpetrated by young black males. So much for STIFFER GUN LAWS, eh?

That sure as crap isn't working. So now (finally) the BLACKS are getting motivated...about freaking time, because they sure as hell weren't listening to anything any of the whites were saying. And as I reported a while back about this "effort", time will tell if even their own kind can make any difference to these thugs on the streets.

Like I say...PEOPLE control, not gun control.

~Dinosaurs are disappearing AGAIN...and so are farm animals and jungle animals. Wal-Mart is pulling bags of these plastic creatures off their shelves, when it as discovered that high levels of lead were found in the base product (not the paint used to detail them). Returning these items to Wal-Mart with or without receipt will get you a refund (only 88 cents w/tax).

And just when you though it was safe to come OUT of the ARK....better tell Noah!!!

~Finally, a little consumer review on a product, that until recently, was never part of my arsenal to fight the "war on grime". It's called "Awesome", can be found at most dollar stores, and is, for the money one of the BEST cleaners I've found. I like products that live up to their names, and this stuff works. Whether it's grease on a rug, or ink on a floor, this will remove it, without damage to the floor or rug. it works on clothing, vinyl, concrete, wood...practically anything. I'm still looking for something it WON'T clean...(OK, it didn't remove my shoe scuff from the side of the plastic computer housing when I had to "reboot" it and used my foot to do so...sue me).

Still, if that's the ONLY thing it won't clean...I can live with that.

After all, I have to "live" (if you call this living) in Ft. Wayne...with THIS junkyard dog of a computer.

Have a great week...and get RID of those damn monkeys...LOL!

Friday Follies...

We made it to the end of another week of toil and sweat, and what better way to begin the weekend than to sit back and peruse the goings-on, courtesy of the Erudition.

You might laugh...you might cry, you might even get a tad POed in the process, but first and foremost...you will THINK.

China Demands U.S. backtrack -

Seems China has their collective undies in a bunch because the U.S. honored the Dalai Lama (who was given the highest civilian award presented by our President this past Wednesday), saying "we" are gravely undermining our relationship with the communist country.

Oh, for crying out loud....these are the SAME people sending lead-riddled TOYS to our freaking kids for God's sake! And they have the AUDACITY to "demand" anything from US? We (the USofA) are "blatantly interfering with China's internal affairs", Chinese officials are saying.

Uh...excuse me, but the Dalai Lama isn't like your own personal "Pope". In fact, you people over there don't even LIKE to have any religion bothering your Marxist state. I've heard of people JAILED for toting bibles in China, so where do you "so-called leaders" come off with some holier than thou rhetoric over the Dalai Lama, when you aren't even followers of his beliefs? Get a grip, you Commies...better yet, go build a bridge (to match your "Great Wall") and get the hell over it. We'll present awards to anyone we feel DESERVES it, so deal with it.

(but I still like your pork lo mein)

Those Wacky Mimes -

On today's front page of the local paper, I saw something that I "should" find as disturbing as Amos & Andy used to be to blacks, namely the Fort Wayne Urban League mimes...all in the obligatory "white-face", performing ("silently"...no less. How weird is THAT?) at the ACPL (library).

Now I'd wager "the farm", that IF I dared show up doing a MINSTREL number (in the obligatory black-face), I'm sure the NAACP and the ACLU would be all over me like white on rice (pun intended). This double-standard crap has to stop.

Now, I'm all for after-school programs that help latchkey kids, but we can do much better than THIS. I've never heard of BLACK MIMES, and for the obvious reasons...all the blacks I see around MY area (as well as many students in our schools) just can't seem to shut the hell up for one damn minute. They're always mouthing out to someone, or about something, shouting a whole city block to call to someone, screaming at the tops of their ample lungs to each other or their kids, honking their car horns (ghetto doorbells), and thumping their boomcars all over our streets. So don't tell me that BLACK MIMES really exist.

They wouldn't know QUIET if it came up and bit 'em all in their (ample) asses! That's as oxymoronic as military intelligence...LOL!

I just KNOW that Marcel Marceau is rolling in his grave.

More School "Daze" -

OK, so we've got more "ammo" in the fight to get our kids smarter sooner, and with fewer problems. Such as:

-Birth control for middle schoolers. (WTF???) When I was a pre-teen, we had a helluva lot of other things to while away our time that screwing around. Then again, we had something called REAL PARENTS THAT GAVE A DAMN...and HOBBYS.

-Getting kids into school SOONER (as in PRE-kindergarten). Anyone for IN UTERO education? Why not implant some kind of "learning" chip in the womb, so by the time the child is born, he/she is well on his/her way to that MASTERS AT OXFORD by the time they're past the second grade!

Makes you feel the need to run through the streets screaming "STOP THE MADNESS", doesn't it?

Renaissance Pointe Musings -

In today's paper you will find a supplement touting this grand experiment on the city's near southeast side, complete with elevation views and floor plans for these new houses (costing over $100K each). Now if you look at the aerial floor plan for the area, you can also see that this is a "cookie cutter" venue, with neat little houses sitting side-by-side along the streets in the area. Not much room per house, property-wise.

And in this blogger's opinion, that takes some of the "charm" from the area (or any area). The major nuance about these neighborhoods is that no TWO are alike. Some blocks have 15 houses, while others have ten or fewer (our block happen to have ten houses). The property sizes vary, allowing for personal creativity with property owners, and THAT makes for a nice area to live. I personally feel that this project is another case of spitting in the wind, and I would like to be proved wrong.

Time will tell.

Two Notable Celebrities Pass Away -

Deborah Kerr and Joey Bishop have gone on to better things.

Joey Bishop, a marvelous comic for decades, and the last of the original "Rat Pack" died at the age of 89. At least they're ALL back together now.

And anyone that has ever watched From Here To Eternity can never forget that scene on the beach between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. She died at the age of 86. Celebrities tend to die in "threes"...I wonder who will finish THIS trilogy?

So there you are....things to make you THINK (or as my English teacher used to write on the blackboard...THIMK). As for me, I've got an 8 foot branch that our recent storm brought down out back waiting for me...and I think it wants to be cut into a whole lot of little pieces.

Have a Safe Weekend.

I Love A Rainy Night...

No, I'm not going to launch into some Eddie Rabbitt tune (although the song does have a catchy back beat). It's just that whenever it rains, it becomes a calming influence more than anything else to me.

Time was I used to spend the occasional weekend at Grandma's & Grandpa's house way out of town (back in Philly) in a little hamlet known as Pendel, PA (the population wasn't even 1000). In many ways it was so much like being in the country...there were NO sidewalks (horrors!), and you had a a nice piece of ground (less than a 1/3 acre) about the house. Well, it WAS about 20 clicks outside the limits of Philly, and back in the 60s...that WAS nothing short of miles and miles of...miles and miles (with a farm scattered here and there). And for THIS city boy, that was pretty darn close to being out in the "boonies". Their "center city" consisted of a major intersection with route 1. That was about it. I can see why Grandpa retired up there. Even back then, he was ahead of the "curve". Not bad for a WW1 vet.

But when it rained out there, the sound of it on Grandma's patio awning was one of those sounds that lulled you off to sleep in such a way, that it was nothing short of mesmerizing. And some of you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

No traffic noises...no shouting...no gunfire.

Nothing but rain...and maybe some thunder and lightning tossed in as a bonus. Hell, the first time I was there I had trouble getting to sleep...it was TOO quiet...LOL!

But that changes REAL fast...believe me.

Here in Fort Wayne, a rainy night can still have a similar effect, but for another reason: It keeps most ALL of those damn boomcars off of the streets. That's right...for some strange reason (known only to science, and maybe a few clandestine organizations) loud car stereos do NOT like inclement weather.

Go figure.

Maybe it's the humidity in the air that affects the speakers (which due to plastic instead of paper cones on the speakers, shouldn't be a problem), maybe the drivers see the rain as being too close to taking a bath (most of them look like they could use one), or perhaps they realize that driving in bad weather takes too much of their concentration AWAY from the tune they're blasting (they can't thump some crap music tune AND look for the police trying to catch them AND pay attention to the road all at once while smoking a doobie).

Nice to know they CAN prioritize...when absolutely necessary.
I just find it wonderful to be able to get a GOOD night's sleep for a change and not be shaken awake by the incessant thump, thump, thump of some moron with a large stereo (and a proportionately smaller-sized penis). That's right...BIG stereo..small penis. That means the ONLY thing I have to "worry" about is a home invasion at 3AM...and I can take care of that readily enough, so sleeping is a lot easier.
Then again, if people would show some RESPECT to those they DEMAND it from, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. But we can blame that on certain peoples' "culture", I suppose. Well, that and the music marketing industry (another case of other people telling YOU what YOU "NEED" in life, right?) pushing this garbage at our youth. And we wonder why they are the way they are, and what we can do to change it. Simple...get rid of this crap...once and for all. The solution is as plain as the nose on their primate faces.
Still, that nice rain coming down is something that will never get old, unlike all of us. Now, if I could only get a machine that would produce a raincloud that can FOLLOW these morons around, creating a localized downpour on THEM (like that character in the L'il Abner comics)...THAT would solve a lot of problems.

And shouldn't life be about fewer problems, rather than more?

More Fallout?

It's mid-week, and we're doing a follow-up of sorts regarding yesterday's "good old days", and I promise that it won't "hurt" all that much.

WARNING: EDUCATIONAL ALERT

((the surgeon general has determined that reading this WILL lead to greater knowledge))

I've found yet another instance of "If it's not one damn thing, it's another", and one need look no further than in their laundry room. Yes, it's that simple.

Take a gander at your washing machine...go ahead, we'll wait a few.......

Now here's one of those boons to mankind that saves us time and effort every time we need clean clothes. And it's within our reach (unless you're doing the laundromat gig, in which case, you get the see some VERY interesting people and fork over some serious change in the process), and when we're not using it, we pass it without a second look.

I recall a time when my Mom had one of the OLD "wringer" washers, and that was considered "high-tech". It had these two wooden rollers on top of a huge tub which contained the agitator. All of this sat atop four steel legs. At first glance, this could be something that Robby the Robot could "get intimate" with. There was ONE speed - NO rinse cycle - and NO spin cycle (hence the rollers at the top). You had to take each article of clothing and pass it through the wringers to get all the water out of them. And the wringers did NOT recognize the difference between your pants and your arm (as mom found out once...just once).

As technologies improved, we moved "up" to front AND top loading machines, which DID have rinse and spin cycles. Nowadays, we have yet another computer which lets us decide which TYPE of fabric we're putting into the washer. With the push of a button, the machine will set the duration of wash time, the spin speed and the agitation rate (slow or "normal", whatever normal is these days). Top-loaders never really "took off" like they did overseas, but you know America's marketing juggernaut.

I've always liked the TOP loaders...for the obvious reason. Water ALWAYS runs DOWNHILL (ask the 3 Stooges about that one), and with a bad door seal on a front loader, you find that out REAL fast.

Now when I do the laundry (yes girls, REAL MEN DO KNOW how to wash clothes PROPERLY...out of necessity most times...or a stint in the military), I follow some of the basic caveats pertaining to using this machine:

1) Never overload the washer with clothes (two smaller loads will take longer, but the washer will last a HELLUVA lot longer). I've seen 40+ yr. old washers that work as good as the day they were taken from the sale floor. I've also seen 3 yr. old washers that are burnt the hell out.

2) Use only enough water to cover the load (it's NOT a swimming pool or your coffee cup - you don't need to "brim" it every single time).

3) All you need is ONE wash cycle and ONE rinse cycle (you can save water by bypassing the middle "cool down" cycle, or whatever they call the middle cycle - it's a waste of resources).

And that's about it....pretty damn easy, huh?

One other thing...make sure the unit is LEVEL before anything else. See, there's these concrete blocks (inside) that are counterbalance weights (along with 3 long springs) that act to optimize the function of the washer, and if the machine is NOT level, expect to hear CHUBBY CHECKER in the back of your head, as the washer will take up the TWIST as it jitterbugs across the laundry room. Think of that spin cycle as someone "speed-checking" a tire on your car for balance. The 20 lb.steel tub (with 10-20+ lbs. of clothes and 10+ gallons of water) will be turning close to 300+ RPMs and with all that weight moving at that speed, that's some very serious crap going on.

Now I said all that to say this:

Top-loading washers will soon be as extinct as the Triceratops.

Starting next year, ALL manufacturers will be switching to FRONT-LOADING washers (to conserve water). I guess we can thank that Nobel Prize winning "environmangelist" Al Gore for THIS now.

Here we go with another "marketing" ploy, not unlike the VHS-BETA VCR debate from the 80s (Beta lost that one thanks to marketing). Some tree-huggers have conspired once again to tell us what we "need" to make life better. We're going to SAVE THE PLANET by saving water (and that will most surely jack UP the water rates to offset the lower usage...right?). So well be right back where we started in no time. Let me also mention that FRONT loaders traditionally cost MORE than top loaders, so expect to shell out more $$$ when that old Maytag finally gives up the ghost.

((sidebar - Speed Queen used to make washers with "bulletproof" parts that were ALL METAL - and they built these machines to last. As a result, they built themselves right out of business.))

Now when I KNOW I'm saving water by following the cardinal rules of LAUNDRY-101, I really get cheesed off when some marketing buttwipe comes along and TELLS ME what I can and cannot do, simply because it's what HE (or they) decide. It's like I said yesterday with TVs, autos, and nearly everything else we use to make our lives "better".

But I can easily trump these front-loading pundits with a technology that's been around for decades (but for some strange reason got shelved, probably along with all the GAS-SAVING tech for cars), and that is...

(drum roll, please..........)

THE SONIC WASHING MACHINE...!

Here's a little beauty (invented by a Japanese man), that uses less than a THIRD of the water used in a conventional machine (front OR top loader), which would essentially render current washer tech obsolete in a Philly heartbeat. Using sonic waves at specific frequencies, it vibrates the dirt out of the fabrics, no matter what the stain or soil content is.

How freaking novel is that?

No mess...no fuss...no waste...and no washer (what???).

That's right...this technology basically disappeared from sight close to twenty years ago, and we haven't heard of it since (damn shame - the prices would be low enough NOW for anyone to afford it, too). Now I don't know about YOU, but "if" we're going to save water (and our planet), it would make DAMN GOOD SENSE to bring this tech online ASAP. But we're not. We're going the route that Europe has gone years before...front-loading washers. Get used to it, because it's here to stay.

Until someone ELSE decides what's "better" for us