March Comes In Like A Lamb...
After a tumultuous February, I'm pretty sure we're ALL glad to see a respite from the "fun" we encountered last month, right?
Well, the good news is that the weather has settled down for a while.
The bad news is that as a result of this last bout of nasty weather, Portland Indiana has seen some decent FLOODING.
Some of the downtown area is under a foot and a half of Salamonie River water.
Many of the people there can't even GET flood insurance, because they're "not on a flood plain"...
(*ahem*)
I'd have my insurance agent in HIS hip-waders standing beside me (if I lived down there) trying to back up that statement.
Yeah, that's the way I roll.
*** I was watching Glenn Beck last evening and he produced one of those "moments of clarity" (imho) when he spoke about two cities that did things differently, and wound up at opposite ends of the socio-economic spectrum.
Now I could never imagine using DETROIT and HIROSHIMA in the same sentence when referring to ANYTHING, but Beck made sense (as usual).
Think about this:
Hiroshima looked like a wasteland after the a-bomb was dropped in 1945.
Yet, by doing what was necessary to ensure an economy that could not only provide for the survivors, but to be able to rebuild this city into a jewel in Japan's crown must have seemed insurmountable.










Here's the WIKI regarding the city:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima
When you go there, scroll DOWN to the ECONOMY section...you'll really have your eyes opened.
Would it be that any of OUR cities were thriving that well.
And the Japanese did it NOT by a system of social justice, or by socialistic policies designed to "level the playing field". They actually took a page from our book and made it possible for everyone to have the same OPPORTUNITY to succeed.
(not bad for a island nation that was isolationist until the 19th century and then bombed back to the stone age)
it shows the RESILIENCE and WILLINGNESS of people to DO FOR THEMSELVES.
Now...take DETROIT (please)...
Detroit USED to be like Hiroshima is TODAY.
With over 50 YEARS of progressive (and democrat-led) "leadership" , mixed with chronic political corruption (the latest being the sentencing of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick), this once proud beacon to Americana and capitalism has become the new Hiroshima (of 1945) of America.
Population has dropped consistently in Detroit over the last several decades.
Crime has grown consistently in the same time period.
One could even say that CRIME is one of the MAIN "employers" of this city.
The other TWO would be the PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM (#1) and the CITY GOVERNMENT (#2).
Gee...kinda SOUNDS a LOT like FORT WAYNE, Indiana...uh oh, that can't be good.
One would have to say that Detroit reached it's zenith (as a thriving city) back in the early 1970s, and as it slowly went down the crapper...never looked back (at it's once greatness). Now people sit a round and wonder "what happened"?
Real easy to figure out...
You became a CITY OF ENTITLEMENTS.
You created a sub-class of NON-working lazy-asses.
You "outsourced" all your MAJOR industry, because you allowed the labor unions to PRICE YOUR OWN PEOPLE the hell out of a competitive market.
Detroit caused this to happen to Detroit...no on else (except the Federal government...their finger was in the pie as well).
Here's the DIFFERENCE in these two cities as cited in THIS link (lots of really good photos):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2349112/posts
Now ask yourself as the Free Republic website did...WHO WON THE WAR?
To say we let this happen in America should be DEPLORABLE to any real American...period.
And yet, much of what has already happened in (and to) Detroit IS being repeated in other cities across America.
I'd hate to think we need an a-bomb dropped on US to wake us from our slumber...
Elsewhere:
*** This story is too damn disturbing, and I heard some of it on the police radio yesterday, thinking "WTF? This is creeping me out"...
(( Son accused of stealing and trying to blow up dad's home / 21-year-old suspect arrested for theft
Updated: Monday, 28 Feb 2011, 5:24 PM EST
Published : Monday, 28 Feb 2011, 12:51 PM EST
Drew Blair
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Police have arrested a man who is accused of stealing from his father before allegedly trying to set fire to his home.
Jonathan Stephan, 21, faces initial charges of theft. The Fort Wayne Fire Department told NewsChannel 15 that he could face additional arson charges.
Scott and Lisa Myers say they escaped death by minutes when the two woke up to realize their house was a ticking time bomb.Natural gas filled the home on Wildwood Avenue Monday morning. The homeowner, Scott Myers, discovered the kitchen stove top was on but the flame had been extinguished filling the home with gas. Flooring throughout the home had also been soaked with gasoline and a living room fireplace was lit.
Myers told NewsChannel 15 that his son, Jonathan Stephan, is behind the malicious mess, "You’d think he was one of the greatest kids in the world until he tries to kill you," he said.
According to Myers, his 21-year-old son stole a television; stereo equipment and car from his father before attempting destroy the house.
"He meant for the house to blow up with us in it," Myers said. "What could possibly be going through his head to make him do something like this? It baffles my mind. I just can’t believe it."
A recent argument over money could have sparked Stephan’s actions, according to his father. Myers said he loaned Stephan $320.00 and had asked for it back.
"He wasn’t able to pay it back and I guess he did what he thought he had to do," Myers said.
Fort Wayne police and fire crews investigated the scene.
Stephan was arrested Monday afternoon. ))
All THIS...over a mere $320 bucks???
Now please tell me that our society is STILL EVOLVING, because I just don't see it in THIS 21 year old LOSER.
Actually, this kid isn't only a loser...he's a DUMB-ASS as well.
Since the house had a gas line to the stove, it's natural to conclude that the hot water heater (in the basement) and furnace might ALSO be gas-fired.
Natural gas is DENSER than air (but not as "dense" as young Mr. Stephen), and will tend to seek out the LOWEST point first.
Remember, it's NOT HYDROGEN (lighter than air), but natural gas (heavier than air)....BIG difference, but still goes "boom"...got it?
Whatever happened to "working a debt off", as in doing things around the house to pay the bill?
Sure beats toasting the "parents", doesn't it?
Just for JUSTICE sake, I'd tack on ATTEMPTED MURDER to the charges...as a LESSON to this disturbed person regarding making BETTER CHOICES IN LIFE. And speaking of JUSTICE...
*** Due to all the inclement weather that prevented schools from remaining open, the graduation dates for many schools in our area had to be bumped up a week or so. There is a mandate that kids attend school for 180 days per year.
That's all well and good from the school's standpoint. Those facilitates have to remain OPEN for those 180 days.
BUT...(uh, oh...here drops the other shoe)...DO these kids really attend the full 180 days to begin with?
What about SICKNESS, or a personal family matter (such as a funeral)?
What about plain old TRUANCY (the mall's fun to hang out on those "off" days)?
With all these new "laws" put forth to make sure that your children have this LEVEL PLAYING FIELD, is it truly benefiting them when they just don't SHOW THE HELL UP?
Back in my day, you (as a student) were EXPECTED to be responsible for KNOWING the work, whether you were in attendance or not..simple as that.
And THAT is why, when I was 9 years old, and in the hospital with double pneumonia, my MOM brought my classwork to ME,...to DO and return to my teacher (this was elementary school). I NEVER missed a lesson, and still passed the grade.
When I was recovering from an appendectomy, my teacher visited our house and spent time going over lessons and testing me, so I would not miss anything.
So, there is simply NO excuse to not be able to do the job as a student.
But, like I said last week, it takes ALL THREE SIDES of the "educational triangle" to make it happen.
Then again, I had PARENTS that made sure that my education came before a LOT of other things in our lives.
And my parents drove home the point of staying in school, and when unable to do so, make sure you stayed UP-TO-DATE with all the classwork.
Think of it as instilling a sense of ETHICS into the mix...and you do that with your children AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.
It's like the Bible says:
"Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they're older, they'll not depart from it".
Kinda sounds like some COMMON SENSE being practiced THERE, eh?
I can speak from experience...it WORKS.
Interestingly enough, the kids in Hiroshima go to school a total of between 210-240 days per year, usually beginning in APRIL (a trimester system - 3 terms separated by brief vacation periods).
They ALSO teach such things in THEIR schools like:
Moral education, which focuses on specific topics at different levels of a student's elementary education.
Subjects include health and safety, disciplined life, courtesy, understanding and confidence, public manners, and environmental awareness.
In private schools religion may be substituted for part or whole.
Yeah, that's only at the ELEMENTARY LEVEL, folks!
These SAME subjects are continued into the higher educational levels along with personal interaction with peers.
In 1992, 99.99 PERCENT of Japanese students graduated junior high, with 95.9 percent continuing to a higher school.
Japan also does NOT mainstream their "Special-Ed" students, as we have taken to doing in America over the last several decades.
Japan has three types of special education schools (shogaiji gakko): schools for the blind (mogakko), schools for the deaf (rogakko), and schools for students with physical handicaps, psychological disturbances, and mental retardation (yogogakko). This last type is divided into three specific schools of concentration.
Special education schools must have elementary and junior high school departments, and may have a kindergarten department and a high school department. Along with the appropriate level of education, instruction provides students with knowledge and skills to cope with their disabilities. In 1992 there were 963 special education schools. Of these, 93.6 percent were public institutions which were attended by over 90 percent of the nearly 90,000 students.
And in THIS manner, EVERY student gets the attention they deserve.
So you can see...we can learn something from the Japanese (who learned a lot from US).
We can come full circle here and get back to basics...the things that WORK not only for us, but for our future.
Or, we can dumb down our kids further, saying that "everyone's a winner", toss accountability along with personal responsibility to the four winds, and allow all our students to be entitlement-driven pawns of some government juggernaut.
We need to change things back to a way that worked...for everyone.
We don't need more programs and more funding.
We just need REASON to rule the day, laced with a little common sense.
That is what this nation should always be about.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.