Fall Is In The Air...
And we're starting to see the very first foliage changes in the trees.
We're also starting to see cooler temperatures, quite in contrast to the L.A. area, which yesterday posted the HOTTEST temperature (113 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 1800s . That is some SERIOUS heat out there.
To my dear friend and his family out there, I'm sending my wishes that the heat subsides soon enough.
It's one thing to live in a state that is all but broke, financially...but it's quite another thing to have to endure such heat and rolling blackouts, adding insult to injury. And let's hope that any wildfires that spring up are kept well contained.
With that said, it's time to move on...
*** A sad note in the sports world:
Football legend George Blanda has passed away at age 83.
(who?)
Well, if you're a follower of football when it WAS football, you'd know EXACTLY who I'm talking about.
George Blanda had a 26 YEAR CAREER in the NFL.
Don't see THAT being done much today, do you?
And he RETIRED from football just short of his 49th birthday!
Here's the FOX sports article:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/George-Blanda-dies-Hall-of-Fame-quarterback-Raiders-092710
I can honestly say he was one of my favorite sports heroes back then, when he played for that "upstart" AFL.
Seemed like the OLDER he got...the BETTER he got.
And he could quarterback AS WELL AS place kick...definitely don't see that today.
If you needed a come-from-behind victory or a real "two-minute" drill, Blanda was THE go-to guy!
Somehow, whenever you saw that number *16* get off the bench and trot out to the huddle, there was going to be something REAL good happening soon.
He's toss a TD pass...and THEN kick the point after as well...fantastic.
His stats speak volumes.
Never going to see another ATHLETE quite like his caliber ever again.
Somehow, I'm believing he's not really gone...just playing for another team...far outta town.
Go get 'em, George.
*** This past Sunday, Wifey and I had the opportunity to get our butts up to my buddy Eric's spread out past Harlan, Indiana...
Driving up there STILL is a bit awe-inspiring to this old city boy...I LOVE it.
In many respects, Indiana can claim a bit of that "Big Sky Country" that Montana has so much of.
You just have to take note of it here.
We spent only a few hours there, as we had cats to feed back here, but the time up there was well spent.
We got to visit the horses, and I can't get enough of that.
We took up the CHRISTMAS gifts we got them last year...we always seem to be a bit behind...LOL.
(And, I got to practice MY "horse-whispering"...)
Still, it's always good to spend some QUALITY time with some QUALITY people.
Used to be able to use that word about MY neighborhood...but that was when THEY lived down here with us, along with ALL the other neighbors that have either passed or otherwise moved away.
Today, if you're NOT "ghetto", you're pretty much an outcast...shunned by everyone else.
If you're NOT on welfare, doing and/or dealing drugs, YOU'RE the one they watch. YOU'RE the one that needs to leave the area.
Since much of this city's cranial-rectal inversion stems from it's LACK of interest and involvement to RETAIN what OUR part of the city USED to be (and that would be a tax-paying and relatively thriving part of Fort Wayne), it's a foregone conclusion that little if anything will change in the immediate future (unless they turn me loose with a few people capable of dealing with these animals down here in the manner they NEED to be dealt with).
But I digress (yet still can hope)...
And that brings me (via a hard segue) to the next topic.
*** Folks my age (late 50s and beyond) grew up with Superman, both in comics and on that new-fangled television (as well as a former radio show).
And we all secretly wished there really WAS a Superman to take care of ALL the evil in the world.
It was good escapist fare, but at the same time, it motivated many of us into doing something about something else that needed doing (got it?) at the time.
Many of us became "supermen" (or women) after a fashion. Maybe we really were not anywhere near to being faster than those speeding bullets, or were not even close to being as powerful as a locomotive, and had to take an elevator to "scale" that tall building, rather that leaping OVER it, but our hearts were SINCERE.
Those of us that remember those days are getting up in years now, and the mantle that should have been picked up by subsequent generations...hasn't.
There is a film coming out about our educational system entitled: WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, and from what I've seen and heard of it so far, this looks to be a powerful movie. And yes, this is based on the book of the same title. Since it's a documentary, I don't expect the box office tally to be anything close to the "hits".
We're not talking Ken Burns here, but it should be viewed by anyone that has a vested interest in education.
Here's the official site (complete with trailer):
http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/
And the WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_%22Superman%22
One can trace the downturn of education back to the early 1970s...I stated that here MANY times.
And one need only read the book DUMBING DOWN OUR KIDS, written by Charles J. Sykes (1996) to see how this educational problem which has become the bane of our modern society (for decades), leading to SO many other societal problems that we're faced with.
This is a perfect example of how federal intervention has NOT worked to maintain or even improve scholastic aptitude and student test scores.
The school systems across this nation could lose the Department of Education (for the most part) TODAY, and it would only have a positive influence on our educational system.
But you also have to UNDO all the things designed to stroke the self-esteem (at the cost of TRUE education) along the way.
You have to hold parents and students AS responsible as the admins hold the educators.
Accountability has to extend to the same degree to ALL aspects of the educational process, or the "equation" just won't balance.
And there lies the REAL challenge these days.
*** Lastly, Indiana is on yet another list...
Here's the source story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100927/NEWS07/100929561/1006/NEWS Seems Indiana is 8th in the top ten states where guns sold are being used in crimes in OTHER states.
A dubious distinction to be sure.
Interestingly, this is NOT "new" news, as evidenced HERE:
http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2006/03/ind_law_indiana_18.html
And HERE:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586780/
(that article talks about "stings" to find guns purchased and used in crimes)
It's not a newsflash that we have STRAW-PURCHASERS in Indiana...
This article from 2006 mentions the steps being taken to stem the tide of such purchases:
http://www.gunguys.com/?p=855
What we need in America are strong gun laws that take such weapons OUT of the hands of the CRIMINALS...period.
We can't stop them from STEALING firearms (the usual M.O.), but we sure as hell can stop them from "purchasing" them with fake IDs from other states.
The technology exists to implement it.
And the law-abiding, gun-carrying public (as well as the NRA) should DEMAND it.
The ONLY people that should be purchasing firearms are those that LEGALLY can, and for hunting, target shooting, collecting, or personal protection.
Everyone else?
Too damn bad.
It's gonna suck to be you.
All the perps that want to pursue criminal activities can go bring a baseball bat or knife to that next "encounter".
See how well they do after THAT, hmm?
Now THAT would be one helluva deterrent to crime, right?
I have no problems with ANY person with no criminal history and otherwise law-abiding, purchasing or carrying a firearm.
I DO have problems with those "gaming the system", making good gun dealers look like the bad guys when it's the perps doing the nasty when it comes to illegal gun purchases with false information and identification.
Another facet that needs to be a bit more polished in the jewel we call OUR NATION.
May we all be up to the task.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.