Monday Musings...
Another dusting of snow this weekend made it look nice again...
And, it's been holding back the thaw that's been overflowing the river banks (well, most of them anyway) around the area.
Saw our FIRST police car of the month (always a grand event for me), and I know I can look forward to at LEAST another 2-3 in the remainder of March.
(in spite of ALL the crap that goes on down here in my three square block area)
Now, with this little "taste" of spring around here, and temperatures tickling those mid-40s, while maybe that's not QUITE enough to get your crocus popping through the ground, it IS time to start another ghetto tradition:
LEAVING CARS ALONG THE STREETS.
Now, before I get into the meat & potatoes of this, let me first say that *IF* people took better CARE of their vehicles, this would occur with a lot LESS frequency. Driving IS a privilege, after all, and NOT a "right".
Now...onto the good stuff.
This car was left along the street early Saturday. Not a bad car, EXCEPT for that busted front wheel (suspension failure).
Reminds me of that SATURN that I found on another Saturday morning along OUR property (and took half a day to remove, thanks to the ineptitude of the owner, PLUS a boomcar and some lookie-loos to monitor the situation).
Nothing is EVER easily done down here...remember that.
How many______(fill in the blank with the ghetto-dwellers of YOUR choice) does it take to fix a broken car?
Now 'ya got the idea...
So, I called the FWPD out to check the car.
(never saw the officer get out of his car)
About an hour later, someone showed up, took their "sh*t" out of the car and drove off. (in a NEW Hyundai Azera of all things...welfare is great, don'cha think?)
A bit later, a flatbed finally came, and that guy had one helluva time trying to get a THREE-wheeled car onto the truck (they're meant to roll on...on ALL FOUR WHEELS). Some folks love creating more problems for others...and that's why we have "blighted areas" of our cities...and DETROIT...lol!
But, I digress...
The car was finally removed from the area, but at least I got to call the FWPD and have them roll through the ghettohood.
(stolen ones tend to wind up down here for some strange reason...wonder WHY?)
Just another day in the ghettohood...where sanity has taken an extended "holiday".
But wait...there's more!
*** You recall those "flash mobs" in Philly and Chicago from early LAST year, right?
(if not, do a search - scary stuff there)
They're baaaa-aaaack.
Well, now those "mobsters" have decided to "kick it up a notch", and this story was probably ONLY shown locally (in Minnesota).
I never saw it air in Ft. Wayne.
In a nutshell:
(( St. Paul Store Robbed By A Mob Of Teenagers
February 22, 2011 6:33 PM - By James Schugel, WCCO-TV
ST. PAUL (WCCO) — A mob of teenagers ran into a St. Paul convenience store Saturday night, robbed it and there was nothing the clerk could do.
According to police, nearly 50 teenagers ran inside the Holiday gas station off Wabasha Street South and took whatever they could in just a matter of minutes. St. Paul Police caught about half of the mob. "Our investigators are now in the process of identifying others involved and holding them accountable as well," said police spokesman Andy Skoogman.
There is video of the robbery, but Holiday’s managers aren’t releasing it to the media.
((Really? I think THIS is the video they're "not releasing":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1KqSiRKS7Q
The same style "mob robbery" happened at a BP gas station off Lexington and I-94 back in September.
Cameras captured the kids everywhere inside the store shoplifting and one of the kids robbed the clerk, too. ))
Here's the link to the entire story:
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/116686374.html
Yes, friends, we now have MOB-ROBBERIES happening.
And don't think for a minute that this was a "random" happenstance...it was PLANNED. (thanks to modern technology like texting)
Now, the (predominantly white) flashmob that broke out into SONG at a mall is one thing (and really cool, too)...THIS (completely black) robbery is quite the other.
Could this be considered a CULTURAL THANG?
It reminded me of post-Katrina NOLA...only WITHOUT the KATRINA.
Mob-mentality...we can add that to the ever-growing list of abnormal behavior attributed to "inner-city youth".
And WHY is that?
Lack of parental authority, lack of self-control, lack of discipline, lack of education... for starters.
(but they DO go to school, Bob)
Well, they MAY show up, but that doesn't automatically make them all a scholastic genius, does it?
Can't learn by "osmosis", can you?
It's the same mentality that grants carte-blanche when it comes to littering...or playing that god-awful loud music...or pissing in public...or killing each other...or otherwise being a general nuisance to "regular folk".
They do it...because THEY CAN.
Yes, it's called LACK OF SELF-CONTROL...coupled with a LACK OF BOUNDARIES and a sense of ENTITLEMENT.
And they expect to succeed as well as those who apply themselves.
(we're ALL winners - nobody fails....yeah, right)
Helluva mentality.
Sad to say, this nation created it, allowed it to grow and prosper, and fostered it's generational perpetuation.
We should have been holding everyone to the SAME standards, and not just "saying" it.
Now, I can't imagine any of us growing up pulling this kind of robbery, or ANY kind of robbery AT ALL.
You want to talk about having SEVEN kinds of hell raining down upon a teenager's head?
This kind of crap (today) would have done it up nicely, back in my day.
We'd all be eating a LOT of meals standing the hell up, and for quite a while.
You can all consider this just more of "YOUR TAX-PAYING DOLLARS AT WORK", right?
And that brings me to something I've been thinking about ever since this whole "America's broke" stuff became front-page news...
The politicians and pundits all "claim" that "we" (this nation) have to start cutting costs, and they want to begin with...ENTITLEMENTS.
(about fracking time!)
BUT...(uh, oh)...when it comes to entitlements, how come we ONLY hear about cutting SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE and MEDICAID?
Not ONE...SINGLE...WORD about cutting ANYTHING related to WELFARE.
Everyone speaking about cost-cutting has avoided THAT one like the damn PLAGUE.
(and I think you ALL know why)
If there was even the slightest "hint" at cutting ANYTHING related to the freebie-packed gravy-train for all those lazy-asses sucking down our tax dollars, there WOULD be another war in this nation...make no mistake about that!
And I'm NOT talking about the TRULY-NEEDY here..just so's we're clear.
It (welfare cuts) would make the WATTS RIOTS look like a girl scout campfire in comparison.
We'd have our very own second civil war, and there wouldn't be a damn thing "civil" about it.
Wholesale rioting and looting would be the order of the day...innocents along with police & firemean being shot dead, curfews all over, shortages in stores, martial law (because the police departments would be out-numbered and out-gunned in some cases)...Anarchy would rule the day.
And some people actually WANT that.
I certainly DO NOT...!!!
Personally, I think there should be a LOT of cost-cutting within the welfare system...way too many loopholes to drive a damn Kenworth through to suit me.
And if anyone is to get anything from our government, there HAS to be some "give and take" here.
You want that monthly check?
WORK FOR IT in some manner...lots of government infrastructure projects (shovel-ready?) to think on.
Stop taking time to drive that new ESCALADE to the car-wash every damn day, and do something PRODUCTIVE for a change.
Funny thing...when you hold ONE class of people to a certain "standard" (or no standard at all), they WILL take to that like a duck to water, as long as they keep getting "free sh*t" (at everyone else's expense).
You incentivize slothful behavior, and basically also incentivize criminal activity. (say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?)
Ever hear about the idle mind being the devil's playground?
Well, consider it like buying a new swing set or circular sliding board (each and every time they trash the OLD ones).
Give these (currently worthless) people something to aim for (aside from one another and hapless victims) and provide the incentive to WANT to achieve...and most of them WILL.
And that will eliminate a lot of the problems we're all hip-deep in these days.
It won't solve ALL of them, as a small number will always want to do nothing at all.
Well, that's THEIR problem, not ours.
I think there comes a time in every person's life when they just cannot sit idly by while the world decides to implode around them.
Sooner or later, what happens around you WILL affect you...just like in combat.
...Unless you decide to do something.
Like I say, you can't do it all, so don't try...but we all can do something, no matter how small it might seem.
Just do your part...let your conscience be your guide there.
Tough decisions need to be made all across the economic board if we're to see this nation through the perilous times ahead.
And it will take strong people of all backgrounds to "man-up" and get the job done.
I believe we can pull it off. We have the courage to do so.
But we all have to hold ourselves to higher standards...a sense that we CAN do better, and that we must.
There is nothing we cannot accomplish as a nation...
We made it this far (since 1776), and we're not ready to kick back...not yet.
Have yourselves a great week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there.