Monday Musings:





How about that?
...Some milestones and a millstone (or two) to get this week started.
Helluva way to start this past weekend...with the passing of TV news icon Walter Cronkite.
Here's the WIKI on his life and career:
(this is a very interesting read...worth a few minutes)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite
I pretty much grew up WITH Cronkite...he was a nightly fixture on our TV set, and produced some of the best news reporting there was at that time. It was in his later years, however, that he turned to the "dark side" of news journalism...aka the LEFT. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed his news if he went to the RIGHT either. It was just that he represented the MIDDLE so damn well.
He was pretty much the last of his breed...
** In more upbeat news, TODAY marks the 40th anniversary of America's FIRST MAN ON THE MOON.









A pivotal moment in mankind's history if ever there was one.
Here's the WIKI on their journey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11
(But don't tell the conspiracy theorists about that...they still believe it was all staged. Someone's been watching the movie CAPRICORN ONE a few too many times, haven't they?)
Hard to believe that the crew of Apollo 11 is well into the autumn of their lives. I'll always think of them as those brave young guys who ventured forth from the confines of Earth, to "Land the Eagle" on our nearest cosmic neighbor.












I remember the landing occurring after 2AM on the morning of July 20th, as I was over at a high school girlfriend's house, watching it with her dad. And YES, we DID things like THAT when I was a teenager, unlike trying to "earn" some "street cred" for ourselves by getting tossed in the slammer for dealing drugs or stealing cars. After the moonwalk, he drove me home, and I must say, that no matter WHERE you were or WHO you were with, it was one of those "once in a lifetime" things you will certainly never forget.
In other happenings...
** THIS post is the 800TH entry to this here blog....(huzzah...sound the trumpets and loose the pigeons)!












I know there are some people out there who are STILL being held responsible for this blog being created...and you KNOW who you guys are...
To them...thank you (again)...bet'cha didn't know WHAT you created when you "suggested" I get my OWN blog.
To YOU, the READERS, thanks for peeking through the window of my part of this old world...and speaking your minds.
Next month, we celebrate the THIRD anniversary of the PA-IN Erudition....(pssst...send money)...LOL!

** Here's a list of what it takes to live in an area such as mine...(note, this COULD be coming to a neighborhood near YOU, and sooner than you might imagine, if Section 8 or HUD housing has anything to say about it):
Here are ten warning signs your neighborhood is in decline:
10. "N"
"N" should never be a word. If a gas station within a two-mile radius of your home has "n" as the middle word, start worrying. Be wary of Kum-n-Go, Git-n-Split or Pump-n-Dump. This can also apply to grocery stores and day care centers.
9. H&R McCar’s
Three out of four fast food restaurants in your neighborhood are now either used car lots or H&R Blocks. You can take your anticipated refund loan next door to Carlos and buy that ’89 LeBaron Coupe you've been dying to "donk-up".
(The locals have taken to buying up EX-POLICE CARS, in an attempt to "mark their turf", and intimidate everyone else)
8. Scenic Casino View
You bought your (once) "suburban" home to escape the lights and sounds of the city, which have moved in across the street. Your view of sunrises, trees and blue skies has been replaced with a 50-foot neon Casino sign. The sun never sets on your block.
(This doesn't apply to *ME*, but our city leaders want a casino downtown SO damn bad)
7. Window Foil
Nothing screams white trash louder than foil in windows. Don’t buy the "I work at nights" excuse. It’s most likely a METH house.
(Locals around here prefer DARK-colored blinds such as BURGUNDY mini-shades...or bedsheets...go figure)
6. Historic Neighborhood
If there’s a proposal to add the word "Historic" to your neighborhood, run. "Historic" translates into: Old, run-down, section of town that should be demolished and by adding the word ‘Historic’ gives the residents a tiny shred of pride in their once decent neighborhood.
5. "Sure-tel"
You receive a mailer that suggests you’re qualified for $1 a month phone service. In MY mailbox are also HEARING AID flyers...(like I WANT to hear that damn jungle music thumping from every other boomcar driving past BETTER...right?) and INSURANCE flyers (no, I don't need MORE coverage, but maybe some of the "locals" might...and in the NEAR FUTURE, if they cheese me off enough times and I decide to finally go POSTAL!)
4. Mixed-Use Facility
Your favorite shopping center is redeveloped (and "rebranded") into a live-work-play "Mixed-Use Facility", MINUS the living, working and playing.
This could ALSO be at ANY rental hovel "crib"...and unlicensed as all get out.
3. Neighbor Watch Program
What you NOW refer to as neighbors have taken to watching each other, rather than suspicious strangers.
(And they're usually watching YOUR house, to see when it's good for THEM to break in and steal YOUR shit)
2. Profitable Kmart
During the latest round of Kmart closings, the store in YOUR neighborhood stayed open.
(Yep, that's our SOUTHTOWN store alright...we DO accept WIC and food stamps for those too lazy to work)
1. "D-G" factor
The number one sure sign your neighborhood is in decline … DOLLAR GENERAL moves in.
(Along with FAMILY DOLLAR and DOLLAR BILL'S stores - near those fast food places and used car lots)
** Regular readers here KNOW that I live in the cesspool locale of this "fair" city.
We're that ISLAND OF REASON AND SANITY in a NEIGHBORHOOD OF APATHY AND ANARCHY, you've heard tell about.
We're the "Last Man Standing", as it were.
We're the LONE WOLF.
And we're the DISILLUSIONED, the DISENFRANCHISED, and the DISRESPECTED.
But, oh my, HOW that city LOVES to continue to bilk us for PROPERTY TAXES, listing OUR house as the MOST HIGHEST ASSESSED property in the whole damn area (must be another one of those damn "white" things). Well, SOMEONE's got to pay for all the lazy-asses...right?
Now, I personally don't give two hoots in hell what these animals that pass themselves off as "neighbors" think...screw them (on second thought.,..maybe not...not even with my own worst enemy's you-know-what).
What pisses me off more than THAT, is the FACT that the CITY (itself) does little or NOTHING to change the situation here. Landlords get the "pass" day in and day out, unless YOU call on them (they don't appear to do background checks on ANY prospective renters), tenants trash properties when they move out (which is all too frequent - gotta stay ahead of the landlord...and the law), other houses sit for MONTHS (if not years) idle with NO thought to razing them, or at least FIXING THEM THE HELL UP, and after a time, this does become frustrating.
The POLICE are stretched thin as it is, with the majority of resources from the ENTIRE department being placed in OUR quadrant of the city, so THAT must tell you that SOMETHING ain't all that kosher down here.
On ANY given day, all the police can do is chase the radio. And many days, the shift operating in OUR part of the city is at MINIMUM STAFF.
(got too many bad people doing too many of the WRONG things here...don'cha think?)
Besides, even THEY (the police) can't be everywhere ALL the damn time...can they?
Crime rarely goes DOWN...it just moves around to one of the adjacent sectors (north OR south) of us, so we just play a game of "musical thugs" day in, day out...year after year.
Realtors openly steer all "decent" people AWAY from this part of town, but will kiss anyone's ass to get "other, specific" people INTO this part of town. Now, to me, that smacks of just a tad bit of BIAS somewhere...doesn't it?
And it also smacks of creating and perpetuating something we used to call....a GHETTO.
The City Council "reps" we have do little to actually IMPROVE this area, and I would gladly shoot down ANY and ALL counters to MY claims, if they had the balls to even return my emails (to date...zero on that). Again, we see politicians suffering from bouts of IGNORANCE and ARROGANCE. Uh, oh....I can see a "Smug Alert" on the horizon...the air is THAT foul.
On any given week, you read in the papers or see on TV that the NORTH or WEST side of town is getting something ELSE brand new (another GOLD MINE)...while we down on the SOUTH side of the city get...(you guessed it)...THE SHAFT.
This part of town COULD (as I constantly state) be revitalized, but there HAS to be a few things done FIRST, and that's NOT going to sit well with "certain" factions in this area.
Before ANY redevelopment could commence...
1 - Get ALL the low-lifes the hell OUT.
That is the FIRST, BEST solution...do THAT, and crime WILL go down, and with it, all the other annoyances that accompany such people and their "behaviors".
2 - Stop with all this FREEBIE SHIT...
You want to OWN a house?
PROVE that you can:
a) AFFORD IT.
b) MAINTAIN IT.
c) TAKE PRIDE IN IT.
All too simple to figure out...even for a FIRST-TIME buyer.
3 - CLOSE UP all these damn "rental cribs".
This is doing NOTHING but fostering crime and trashing property values of those few of us STILL LIVING HERE.
4 - Have the city "claim" these houses through eminent domain (like they claim other, GOOD properties whenever they wish to "redevelop"), and THEN, refurb them, or find someone who CAN, place DECENT, WORKING people (and there are those still out there) that can exhibit a sense of appreciation INTO these houses.
If you want to GET RID of a PROBLEM, you've got to get MORE PEOPLE onboard with the issue at hand. And what BETTER way to do that then to "spread the wealth" around when it comes to all these welfare-sucking lowlifes, hmm?
Let's get the city to DEMAND that EVERY part of town have it's own unique "HUD or SECTION 8 " area, that way, all those snobby-ass rich folks with their noses in the air can see FIRST HAND what it's like to have a societal bane living on THEIR street...
THEN, more people WILL get involved to chase the riff-raff the hell OUT of the area.
If you sit idly by and say things like "I'm sure glad I don't live there", or "That area went to hell in a handbasket, didn't it?", then it's time YOU got to see what living here is like. I would also challenge any and ALL city big-wigs to LIVE down here for a month, and then tell me that we DO NOT have ANY issues here that need their immediate attention.
By all means, PLEASE prove ME wrong, and I will back the hell off, but until THAT occurs, expect me to take time now and again to chastise this city in NO small way (more like bitch-slap the hell out of them when needed), to get the point across that we DO indeed have a PEOPLE PROBLEM...and that it NEEDS to be addressed before things get past the point of no return (which we're approaching with alarming speed).
Now, with the posting of entry number 800, let's plow forward...see where this journey takes us.
Let us choose to do that which is difficult, not because it IS difficult, but because it's the RIGHT thing to do.
Anyone can do something EASY...but it takes stronger people to achieve more.
So, no matter where life finds you today, may you all...
Stay safe out there, America.