Humpday Happenings...
And what a Wednesday it is already...
(that would be a loud "WHEW" )
So what better way to deal with the weather?
It's gonna be ANOTHER one of THOSE days.

HAZY.
HOT.
HUMID.
I have an idea...
Okay then...everybody into the POOL!

Here in Fort Wayne, we're getting a bit more "with the times", weather-wise.
By that I mean that no longer do we JUST up and say:
"Better wear a hat today, Bill...gonna be another scorcher."
We NOW say:
"Today, we have gone from a strong heat ADVISORY to a strong heat WARNING."
When did people start equating hot weather to TORNADOES or FLOODS?
(or even severe THUNDERSTORMS?)
It's the bloody DOGS DAYS OF SUMMER...get over it.
This year happens to be a little more sweltering than those in the last decade.
Check last century's ALMANACS for similar conditions...and NOT just in the Midwest.
So, it's hot and humid enough at 0700 hours to be watering a lawn and then break out in a sweat...I know, I just experienced THAT.
Beads of perspiration on my forehead and face...JUST by holding the garden hose...who knew?
Big, fat, hairy deal.
We "tough it out".
We do what we have to do, and when we have to do it, and that's that.
We've opened up "cooling centers" (huh?) in Fort Wayne, with one uptown at the (Salvation Army?) Community Center and the other at the Public Safety Academy (nice digs, took a tour a couple years ago...check the archives in Novembers past).
I actually thought about dropping down TO the PSA, but somehow, I don't think they'd "let me cool down" by running a box or two of FMJ ammo through my pistols at their nice, air-conditioned INDOOR range...LOL
(damn...now THAT takes the heat off for me...any day)
We also have a "free ride" today on the CITILINK buses around the city (if you like the aroma of bodily fluids and curry as opposed to sweat or hot tar wafting from the streets).
I have noticed that there are hardly ANY of the "locals" out and about...with a few exceptions...











Helluva way to carry the infants about, hmm?
Didn't know OUR corner had suddenly become the new "babymamadropoff"?
Amazing what some people will do to get attention these days, isn't it?
Guess they make POOR decisions... Don't know who got tossed out, or for what reason...don't want to know.
It's all a little more of "the same old sh*t"...just a different day.
...Speaking of all things "poor"...
*** And that is as good a segue as any to lead us all to the center of today's "shrubbery maze", as it were.
You've seen me post often about POVERTY in this country...the REAL and the PERCEIVED.
And I think I've done a good job at painting a very accurate picture of what "passes" for being poor these days, as well as how our ever-intrusive government defines it...or rather RE-defines it, and seemingly every year.
Well now it seems I have even MORE company when it comes to presenting the TRUTH about today's poverty.
Here's the source article from the national Review:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/272081/modern-poverty-includes-ac-and-xbox-ken-mcintyre
Columnist Ken McIntyre paints a marvelously fine picture with this story...kinda like a Monet, or a Rembrandt (imho).
This is a MUST read, if you want to see how "poor" people are these days.
And if you want the abstract with even MORE details, try THIS link:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/07/What-is-Poverty
The authors, Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield (leave it to a guy named BOB to get it right...lol) present some STARTLING FACTS about what constitutes "poverty" in this nation, as well as how it is "labelled and presented" to the masses.
And we can thank the U.S. CENSUS for much of the facts revealed within.
(Oops, the government shot itself on the foot on THAT one.)
Here are but a very few excerpts...do enjoy (and try not to get pissed off along the way).
(( As scholar James Q. Wilson has stated, "The poorest Americans today live a better life than all but the richest persons a hundred years ago."
-- Poor families certainly struggle to make ends meet, but in most cases, they are struggling to pay for air conditioning and the cable TV bill as well as to put food on the table.
-- Their living standards are far different from the images of dire deprivation promoted by activists and the mainstream media.
Because the current recession has increased the number of poor persons in the U.S. since 2005, it might seem likely that poor households would have fewer amenities and conveniences
today than in 2005. However, the increase in poverty during the recession is, to a considerable degree, the result of working-class families losing employment.
-- One would not expect these families to dispose of their normal household conveniences in those circumstances. Thus, paradoxically, the increase in the number of working- and middle-class families who have become temporarily poor is likely to increase slightly the share of poor households that own various items. When the present recession ends, the living conditions of the poor are likely to continue to improve as they have in the past.
-- In 2005, the typical poor household, as defined by the government, had air conditioning and a car. For entertainment, the household had two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR. In the kitchen, it had a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. Other household conveniences included a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker. The family was able to obtain medical care when needed. Their home was not overcrowded and was in good repair.
By its own report, the family was not hungry and had sufficient funds during the past year to meet all essential needs.
-- The overwhelming majority of the public do not regard a family living in these conditions as poor. For example, a poll conducted in June 2009 asked a nationally representative sample of the public whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: "A family in the U.S. that has a decent, un-crowded house or apartment to live in, ample food to eat, access to medical care, a car, cable television, air conditioning and a microwave at home should not be considered poor."
A full 80 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of Democrats agreed that a family living in those living conditions should not be considered poor. ))
THAT, as we say is "Just the tip of a GIGANTIC iceberg", people.
And you know WHY I am appalled by the manner that this overly-flawed system is allowed to operate, persist and even proliferate over time.
I see the truth in these articles EVERY day, and I also know that every hard-working American is being taken to their respective banks to FUND such nonsense.
The entire Heritage abstract is something I would LOVE to get in HARDBACK...and proudly display on MY coffee table.
So whenever you hear about "the poor", we are not talking about HUGE masses of people in America...we are talking about a very SMALL number, truth be told. Don't let ANYONE of either political party tell you otherwise (such as John Edwards TRIED to do back in 2008)
And when it comes to "cutting back on ENTITLEMENTS"...or if you hear about "Entitlement Reform", read ALL the fine print, and listen to EVERY SINGLE word coming out of the pieholes of these politicos, because they are all pretty much wanting to CONTINUE this "dependency upon the government" gig...and at YOUR expense.
You (the government) want to "cut back" on entitlements?
Start with ALL the damn WELFARE PROGRAMS...that $714 BILLION dollar gravy-train for the lazy-asses (with a better bullsh*t story than the next guy when it comes to lying to the Feds to get free stuff) ...the whole "redistribution of wealth" game...start with THAT, and then we'll see HOW MUCH money this nation CAN TRULY SAVE...!
Sure, you might piss off a lot of folks who got REAL used to living on the backs of the working class, but if you're not going to make them "uncomfortable" in such "poverty" they're certainly NOT going to want to "leave the nest" and fly ON THEIR OWN...are they?
Keep the welfare program for those that HONESTLY NEED it...not those who "want" it...or "desire" it.
Time to get RESPONSIBLE with one's finances, amenities, and wants vs needs.
And time to be ACCOUNTABLE for what's being perpetrated against the regular American households across this fine nation.
Question that which DEMANDS questioning, and be bold as hell in your pursuit of knowledge and truth to find the answers when none are forthcoming from those who claim to have the answers.
Look to common sense as your guide, and integrity as your companion.
THAT is what makes THIS nation heads above the rest...never forget that.
Take the time to read these stories (short or long version) and know THIS to be the truth.
You will not be disappointed, and will come away with a much better understanding of what is REALLY going down.
In the meantime, keep in mind the heat and humidity outside, and prepare accordingly.
The life you save may be one I've come to respect.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.