There are three major stories I'd like to touch on today, not the least of which is the one I knew would eventually arrive, namely the passing of actor Charlton Heston...an American screen icon for over 5 decades.
Moses has finally met God.
Heston played a myriad of "epic" roles in films such as El Cid, Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments.
Heston played a myriad of "epic" roles in films such as El Cid, Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments.
I personally enjoyed so many of his moveies whether it was Will Penny, 55 Days at Peking, or even The Omega Man.
And who could forget Soylent Green or Planet of the Apes?
He had also been president of the Screen Actors Guild, as well as president of the NRA (1998).
Heston was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2002,
You can view his entire film history at IMDBs website.
You can view his entire film history at IMDBs website.
Here's the link:
And the link to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Heston
Heston was 84.
Truly, the stuff of legends. He will be missed.
Heston was 84.
Truly, the stuff of legends. He will be missed.
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Our second story focuses on the JG article (Sunday) regarding property assessments in Allen County over the past several years.
And since we ALL know you simply cannot have any type of ASSESSMENT without an ASS somewhere in the mix, let's take a peek into the story presented yesterday.
It's not a bad read, and many of you in rich neighborhoods might even find it a bit humourous. I'm not laughing, in case you were wondering.
Below is the link to Sunday's article: http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/LOCAL/804060396
Here's the link for the assessment lookups (name/address):
This one didn't actually catch me off guard (you quickly learn to be ON GUARD a lot down here), when I read that LOWER INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS were the "recipients" of HIGHER assessments. I KNEW as much...and said so (for all the good that has done).
Our "assessed value" shot up 102% from 2000 to 2004 alone, and we weren't the worst one hit by this (only went up a mere 4% this year...big whoop), and all in a neighborhood that saw a LOSS of most every other decent home OWNER, a new crop of RENTALS popping up (as a result), and increased criminal activity (associated with the human vermin occupying these once nice houses, turning them into HOVELS). But it's not like I haven't said ANYTHING about that HERE....I have and quite frequently.
Curiously, in nearly EVERY case, the homeowners that MOVED AWAY from here, were...WHITE, while the renters that subsequently came into the area were almost ALL...BLACK (along with some white trash). Now it's interesting to note that with the advent of ETHNIC DIVERSITY in our neighborhood comes all the BAD ELEMENTS...and this is supposed to make MY property value go UP?
Cripes, I haven't had a good night's SLEEP in 7 YEARS!
But my house is "worth" MORE (just don't think of selling it for the assessed "value").
How the hell is THAT possible? How can MY property suddenly be worth so much more (on paper anyway) when everything else around us is coming apart like a cheap sweater?
Gives "worth-less" a whole new meaning.
Well, the answer I came up with is that WE ARE WHITE...and WE OWN the house we LIVE in. Anyone else in our "unique" position would see the same thing. Nice bit of "trending", eh?
It's just a quaint way of telling US we're not really wanted in this area any longer (although the city surely appreciates the TAX MONEY we cough up every damn year); that WE need to move, so our house can become just another rental.
Sorry, that dog just ain't gonna hunt.
WE are the ONLY reason this area looks even close to "nice". WE are the white drop of milk on an otherwise black driveway. WE stand out...and alone. And WE are PAYING for it in more ways than one, thanks to improper assessing.
I can now say that my wife and I are now the official "unofficial" Monarchs of our neighborhood, as we now have THE highest "assessed value" property (a man's home is STILL his castle, right?) in the entire area. Not bad for having vermin all around us, hmm?
Hell, I'd LOVE to be able to get $74K for this place, or even the actual value of $40K (I think it's worth more, considering the cost of housing), which is what WE paid for it 11 years ago, but we'd be lucky to get $35K (more likely even less) thanks to ALL the damn rentals pulling down the values around here.
Hell, I'd LOVE to be able to get $74K for this place, or even the actual value of $40K (I think it's worth more, considering the cost of housing), which is what WE paid for it 11 years ago, but we'd be lucky to get $35K (more likely even less) thanks to ALL the damn rentals pulling down the values around here.
Oh, and there IS the crime (as in REAL...and NOT perceived). So we're stuck, unless we want a HUGE mortgage elsewhere. That's not MY first choice...not when we still have this place.
Of course, when you figure in the vandalism (eggs on the house, bricks through windows, BBs cracking the garage glass, etc), the disrespect by others because YOU want to have a nice place, and all they want to do is sell or use drugs and have parties, plus the reverse racial overtones shown to you because you're the ONLY island of sanity in a sea of chaos, you spend a lot of time wondering what the hell went SO wrong that things could DEVOLVE around you so damn fast.
We're certainly NOT finished with this.
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Lastly, the homicide (murder pool) number in Fort Wayne is up to eleven, no...make that TWELVE now! , so all that prayer and talk of changing things around must REALLY be working...NOT!
Talk is cheap, prayer is for the righteous, and action is for those sick and tired of the status quo.
I personally like #3. I'm sure that employing some TOUGH action against these perps would do some real good, for sometimes, it TAKES BITTER TO DRIVE BITTER. We sure ain't catching many thugs with all this "sugar" now, are we? Currently, there have been NO ARRESTS. I'd like to ask for assistance (for our area) here, but I just KNOW I'm talking to a bunch of asses (because the heads are firmly in the sand).
Just yesterday, I asked a preteen girl, who was just "chillin" at my corner (she also smokes at the corner and hangs with gangsta wannabes) to NOT use my property as a hangout, and promptly got more attitude that I bargained for. I then went outside and told her straight up; "You want the police here to straighten this crap out? I can make it happen like THAT (snapping fingers). Your call, sister." She moved on, but I can easily tell that this will be far from over.
Of course, when you figure in the vandalism (eggs on the house, bricks through windows, BBs cracking the garage glass, etc), the disrespect by others because YOU want to have a nice place, and all they want to do is sell or use drugs and have parties, plus the reverse racial overtones shown to you because you're the ONLY island of sanity in a sea of chaos, you spend a lot of time wondering what the hell went SO wrong that things could DEVOLVE around you so damn fast.
We're certainly NOT finished with this.
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Lastly, the homicide (murder pool) number in Fort Wayne is up to eleven, no...make that TWELVE now! , so all that prayer and talk of changing things around must REALLY be working...NOT!
Talk is cheap, prayer is for the righteous, and action is for those sick and tired of the status quo.
I personally like #3. I'm sure that employing some TOUGH action against these perps would do some real good, for sometimes, it TAKES BITTER TO DRIVE BITTER. We sure ain't catching many thugs with all this "sugar" now, are we? Currently, there have been NO ARRESTS. I'd like to ask for assistance (for our area) here, but I just KNOW I'm talking to a bunch of asses (because the heads are firmly in the sand).
Just yesterday, I asked a preteen girl, who was just "chillin" at my corner (she also smokes at the corner and hangs with gangsta wannabes) to NOT use my property as a hangout, and promptly got more attitude that I bargained for. I then went outside and told her straight up; "You want the police here to straighten this crap out? I can make it happen like THAT (snapping fingers). Your call, sister." She moved on, but I can easily tell that this will be far from over.
Oh, and she's part of the nice multi-racial (read dysfunctional) family that moved down the street into our latest rental (that I helped the owner, a former neighbor fix up after the previous druggie-renter had trashed). The newest addition to our area that makes MY property values go UP (not on a dare, people).
What a crock of BS!
I've got blacks on THREE sides of my (corner) house now, and while one house is basically unoccupied, the other two make up for it. The house behind us has kids that are trying to claim MY property as their own (when they toss balls that keep coming into my driveway and yard). I spoke to THEM about that. The ones across the side street with TWO sides of THEIR house to park along, have people over that park along MY property line, claming THAT as "their own". It's that "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is my own" mentality ALL over again. Talking to them rarely works due to that short-term memory thig they all suffer from, AND it can get a gun pulled on you (oh, am I EVER ready for that to happen again). Castle-Doctrine, baby!
Funny, I NEVER had issues like this when I had WHITES on those 3 sides of my house.
Wonder WHY that is? Must be "poverty" making all these people dumber than a bag of rocks. I never encountered people as bad as this even in Philly with all the neighboroods I lived in.
But, like I said before, when these kids are permitted to GROW UP with NO guidance, NO rules, NO boundaries, NO parenting, and NO real role models, it's little surprise that they wind up a bunch of low-life, unintelligent, disrespectful, hedonistic meandering miscreants. And that's being NICE about it.
Whew....I use to think that (as the song goes) Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down, BUT...those rainy days are actually a bit quieter (around here) than sunny days, and Monday in our neighborhood is like every OTHER day...nobody works, everyone hangs out, drives the hell around thumping loud music, and there are police sirens every 30 minutes as well as an ocassional drug deal...SO damn (according to Bob's "lexicon") ..."ghettotypical".
What's there NOT to "get down" about...right?
Summers are even better. (or would that be worse?)
Do have a safe week.
I'll be waiiting for "#13" (and maybe even Godot).
I've got blacks on THREE sides of my (corner) house now, and while one house is basically unoccupied, the other two make up for it. The house behind us has kids that are trying to claim MY property as their own (when they toss balls that keep coming into my driveway and yard). I spoke to THEM about that. The ones across the side street with TWO sides of THEIR house to park along, have people over that park along MY property line, claming THAT as "their own". It's that "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is my own" mentality ALL over again. Talking to them rarely works due to that short-term memory thig they all suffer from, AND it can get a gun pulled on you (oh, am I EVER ready for that to happen again). Castle-Doctrine, baby!
Funny, I NEVER had issues like this when I had WHITES on those 3 sides of my house.
Wonder WHY that is? Must be "poverty" making all these people dumber than a bag of rocks. I never encountered people as bad as this even in Philly with all the neighboroods I lived in.
But, like I said before, when these kids are permitted to GROW UP with NO guidance, NO rules, NO boundaries, NO parenting, and NO real role models, it's little surprise that they wind up a bunch of low-life, unintelligent, disrespectful, hedonistic meandering miscreants. And that's being NICE about it.
Whew....I use to think that (as the song goes) Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down, BUT...those rainy days are actually a bit quieter (around here) than sunny days, and Monday in our neighborhood is like every OTHER day...nobody works, everyone hangs out, drives the hell around thumping loud music, and there are police sirens every 30 minutes as well as an ocassional drug deal...SO damn (according to Bob's "lexicon") ..."ghettotypical".
What's there NOT to "get down" about...right?
Summers are even better. (or would that be worse?)
Do have a safe week.
I'll be waiiting for "#13" (and maybe even Godot).