WEEKEND ROUNDUP

Head 'em up...Move 'em out.

We're heading into another weekend, and that means the drugs will soon be here on the south side (on or around the 12th - that's tomorrow...so shop EARLY, and if your habit's severe enough, shop OFTEN).

It's time to also tie up those marvelous loose ends of what's been going on around the city, nation and the globe.

And we all know what happens to things that are left "untied", right?

...Like shoe laces.

So, without any further ado....

--Oh, Tommy Boy...

Looks like our new Mayor, Tom Henry wants to take a page from Wal-mart's book and roll something back. That would be the "promised" TAX CUT (city levy) we homeowners were due as per previous city council decision. Hmm...I smell a DEMOCRAT somewhere in all this mix. Hey, it might ONLY be $19 per $100K of property, but it was worth a few gallons of GAS...wasn't it? Liar, liar...pants on fire.

Nice to know the citizens of Ft. Wayne made the "right choice" in mayoral candidates. Now, let's see where I put that real estate book with all the OUT OF TOWN properties for sale.

--Tata Nano - A car for the Masses?

India motor car company Tata unveiled their new $2500 car, called the Nano, and I have one word to say about it: NOT ON A DARE! (Sorry...make that FOUR words)

It's a TWO cylinder, 33bhp "car" (think pregnant easter egg) that gets SIXTY miles per gallon (and I'll bet it has a 6 gallon tank).

On the "up" side, it doesn't have ANY room for a bass kickerbox, so we're probably NOT going to be hearing THEM thump down our streets.

--F-15 Problem Discovered...

The USAF has found the structural dilemma that has grounded the fleet of F-15s (A-C models) for the past few months. It's called a "longeron" (a supporting beam within the airframe) that is a major component, much like a keel on a ship. The newer F-15E models are not affected yet, but time could change that as well.

Curious thing about structural metal fatigue; you never quite know WHEN it will occur. One minute the metal is perfectly fine, and the next minute, the molecular composition changes (due to constant vibration and/or temperature changes) into something you don't want to have on a mach-2 airframe pulling upwards of 6 Gs on a combat or training sortie.

Catastrophic fracturing of a metal that a few seconds before was flexible yet strong enough to withstand the rigors of flight is a pilot's worst nightmare. And you can't predict when it will happen...until it does. And hopefully, loss of life will NOT enter into the picture. Then all you can do is perform tests on similar airframes to ascertain if the problem is chronic or isolated, as well as determine how much time those other aircraft might have before the same thing occurs.

--Law Enforcement Grant Money Drying Up...

Local police are concerned over the loss of about 67% of the grant money that they used to be able to secure to fight the war on drugs (which in this blogger's opinion has not been waged all that well in the first place, despite the best efforts of the police around the nation).

Thanks to a massive "omnibus" bill, grant money was cut from $520 million to $170 million. And that's across the nation, not just for here. In Allen County alone, the monetary value of seized drugs came to about $188,600. Not bad, but they DID miss a lot of the crap being sold down here. I did try to point them at the "right" people and houses, but I guess they had other plans. Maybe they ran out of money?

The National Criminal Justice Association also decried these cuts, saying communities everywhere will feel the loss (I'd wager it'll still be "business as usual" down here, especially this weekend). The group's president said that Congress has made the job of every police officer a little more difficult.

At least he's NOT blaming George W. Bush!

Lastly, all this flap over the Indiana voter picture ID made the O'Reilly Factor last night. And Megyn Kelly, who discussed this with Bill, made some good arguments as to why it shouldn't be such a problem. At another blog, one person mentioned that the "poor" really shouldn't figure into the picture, as they have to get a picture ID anyway for "poor relief" .

I can add to that the fact that a lot of the "poor" have the means to DRIVE A CAR, which means they have to get a LICENSE (with a picture). And many of these "food stampers" have some damn nice BRAND-NEW VEHICLES, such as Durangos, Explorers, Tahoes, and so on.

Take a look around the grocery lots on the south side. To top it all off, these "poor" folks manage to get HANDICAPPED Plates, and they look damn well enough to WORK for their money (to me).

But it's all good.
And good should be the watch word for this weekend.

Do have a good (and safe) weekend.