Humpday Happenings...
Another semi-rainy day in the Heartland, with some thunderstorms last night, which freaked out the cats a bit.
I, on the other hand, was busy being freaked out by a History Channel show entitled: Zombies - A Living History...how "quaint".
(more about that a little later)
Plus, the season finale of TOP SHOT came on right after that show, so, it was an easy choice as to WHAT channel to lose the remote on.
The winner of the $100K prize was a CHRISTIAN CAMP COUNSELOR (Dustin Ellerman) who was a SELF-TAUGHT shooter, so you know I always root for the "underdog"...and Dustin smoked the final 7-stage challenge...amazing.
Guess that goes to show you don't screw with a Christian that can SHOOT.
(God & Guns...great combo - what makes America great, right?)
*** In the meantime...let's play WHO SAID THAT?
Here's the quote:
"In war, one sees his own troubles, and not those of his enemy"
(hint: think Europe and not America)
So...WHO SAID THAT, hmm?
In some ways, that quote kinda mirrors parts of our own LIVES, does it not?
Guess it all depends on how we define our "enemies", either real or perceived.
Moving on...
*** This little update about the man shot while walking:
(( Published: October 26, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Police: Shooting not random act
Dominic Adams The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne police do not believe a shooting that seriously injured a man Sunday was random.
Police on Tuesday identified the victim as Lamarcus Ellis, 22, of Fort Wayne. He was shot in the neck about 1:10 p.m. Sunday as he was walking in the 4100 block of Buell Drive, near West Branning Avenue, police said.
Ellis was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Police did not have his current condition Tuesday evening.
People in the area told police they heard a shot and then saw the man suffering from a gunshot wound.
"The victim gave conflicting statements to officers at the scene, and though officers and detectives interviewed people and residents in the area, a crime scene was not located and no evidence was found," Raquel Foster, city police spokeswoman, said in an email to The Journal Gazette. "The absence of a crime scene and evidence makes any investigation very difficult. Add to that a victim who isn’t very forthcoming with information and the solvability rate declines very quickly."
The shooting took place about four blocks north of Harrison Hill Elementary.
"We do not believe it to be a random act of violence," Foster said. "It’s very uncommon to have such an incident occur without some motive surfacing during the investigation." ))
Now WHO would have guessed that information from witnesses (or the victim) in ANY shooting on the (...all together, gang...) SOUTHEAST SIDE of Ft. Wayne is never usually forthcoming?
(raises hand)...I WOULD!
This is typical of the "relationship" between law-enforcement and what passes for the local populace in this area.
Fortunately, this doesn't represent MY feelings, but I'm in the minority in that regard.
Sadly, it's the lack of respect FOR law-enforcement and the whole "lemme do what I want" mindset with such people which is causing a rise (again) in officer deaths across the nation.
The "Support Your Local Gunfighter" blog (link at left) had a good article about it yesterday (violence against police is up sharply), and it's a very good read. And he's from PHILLY (PPD) so you KNOW you can trust his reporting (wow...just like me...lol)
This is part of this whole "peace through appeasement" crap I mentioned a few days ago...never works, and only causes more problems.
And speaking for "problems",
you might get a giggle out of this:
*** Contrary to popular belief, I am NOT a totally vindictive middle-aged SOB...( I just play one in the neighborhood...LMAO)
But I DO have "my moments", wonderful as they are in my own eyes.
Remember that ladder I saw propped up against the house next door (that was obviously broken into with the ripped off siding)?
Well, considering I'd be pushing up tons of daisies by the time the city decides to take any action on this, I took matter into my OWN hands.
Now, you have to remember that I can be a very handy individual when the need arises.
Hand me some tools and just turn me loose.
I'm like a "point and shoot" kinda guy...a "plug and play" person...very "user-friendly" (as the missus will tell you).
You all know what a 6 ft. step ladder looks like, right?
I decided to "modify" that unmoved ladder...with spectacular results, too.
Let's just say that THIS particular ladder will NOT be used in the manner in which it was originally assembled...EVER again.
Gimme a box saw and five minutes, and I can change the course of history (well, at least in my part of the ghettohood, anyway)!
Gonna be fun to see what the person who decides to go back to that house will think after seeing my little "warning shot".
Anyone wanting to venture further will have to bring ANOTHER ladder there (and I'll be waiting, box saw in hand...BWAHAHAHahahahahaaaaa).
*** More about Zombies...
That History channel show did well by itself with last night's program.
And the scary part, is that it "could" happen..thanks to biotechnology.
With all these weird new viruses out there, mutated from other viruses, we could wind up in a pandemic situation, much like the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918-1919 (50 million dead around the world), or the Black Death (bubonic plague) which killed over 100 MILLION people.
Maybe they won't be like THE WALKING DEAD (damn fine show on AMC, too), but the infection rates, and subsequent deaths are very similar.
BTW, the BEST weapon against a zombie IS...(wait for it)...a SHOTGUN (glad I got me one).
Second best is any long gun, with pistols next,and finally melee weapons. But who wants to really get THAT close to find out the effectiveness or a tire iron or a 2x4, right?
(short answer - NOT ME)
The original Romero movie (1968, filmed up near Latrobe, PA) dealt with radiation from a downed satellite, causing the re-animation of the dead.
Subsequent films deal with BIOLOGICAL devices run rampant.
We can blame the CDC for such things, as well as third world nations that haven't the precautionary measures to prevent an accident or ability to eradicate such organisms.
All in all, the show was good to watch, and if nothing else, it stresses PREPAREDNESS.
They figure that if you're prepared for a ZOMBIE outbreak, natural disasters like tornadoes or floods will be a piece of cake to ride out.
They might be right in that regard.
*** Last up today, a little more about ENTROPY.
Yesterday's post, I described what DYSTOPIA is, as well as ENTROPY, and I want to spend some time talking about things that CAUSE entropy (which leads to dystopia), specifically, the "higher education" catch-22.
I find it ridiculous that public colleges have RAISED their tuitions (again) to the tune of 8.3% (someone's singing a bit off-key here).
It costs about $17K per year to attend one of THESE colleges as opposed to the costs of private colleges which is MUCH higher.
Now, what the hell ever happened to community colleges that were there to give that "hand up" to people wanting to further their education?
When did we (America) make it more unreachable to better oneself?
I know most community colleges only offer 2-year degrees (associate's), but it's a damn good way to take that first step, and save some money for the other two years (in another college that has bachelor, masters and doctoral programs).
College costs are directly attributed with causing this nation's students to incur debt that has surpassed ONE TRILLION BUCKS.
That ain't nothing to sneeze at, folks!
Why the hell can't colleges keep costs DOWN?
Where is the oversight that prevents the financial gouging of young adults in this country?
Why do we pay tenure to professors that teach not the subject, but their OWN agenda and beliefs?
It's as though there is some insidious plan afoot, that would cause further dependency upon our GOVERNMENT.
Not to mention, that many of these kids when they DO get out of college, with that debt in tow around their person (like Jacob Marley's chains and money boxes), they can''t find the jobs they went to college for in the first damn place!
All of this directly causes ENTROPY within our nation, as defined (deterioration of a society).
How in God's name can we bank on the future, when situations like THIS are allowed?
What TYPE of future can we (and the children) look forward to as a result of JUST the college/debt/job scenario?
These are but some of the seeds that grow into the vines that WILL rise up and strangle this country, if we're not careful.
Hey, I'm ALL for education,...the more the merrier, as it were.
The day you STOP learning...is the day you STOP living...period!
(the afterlife is quite another story...for another time)
I can say I learn MORE on my own, by being inquisitive, asking questions, and looking for answers.
I'm sure many of you feel likewise.
Life teaches us MORE than we could ever learn in ANY school or schools...that's just the "nature of the beast".
Just ask an educator, or police officer, or firefighter...or the bartender...they will agree 100%.
BUT...schools (elementary and high) as well as colleges are there to PREPARE us for what lies ahead.
And if we can't afford to BE PREPARED, it's like facing a world of ZOMBIES.
(you don't wanna be UNprepared in THEIR presence..trust me, I've seen all the movies)
We don't want to develop a CASTE system, as it would appear with the growing gap between the educated and the "wards of the state", right?
And we all know that a "pliable" populace is MUCH easier to "control"...just ask Stalin...or Pol Pot, or even Hitler.
When you can effectively "instruct" a people as to how they SHOULD live, you are well on the "Road to Dystopia".
(which is NOT a Bob Hope & Bing Crosby movie of the 1940s)
Then again, Hope & Crosby never had to deal with zombies...right?
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.