Friday Follies...
Well, what the hell was all that WET STUFF coming down from the skies this morning, hmm? Amazing...we FINALLY got some (much) needed RAIN, albeit briefly.
Not gonna hear ME complaining about THAT...(got plenty of other stuff for THAT...lol)
Nice to know the wipers work on the car...we haven't used them in SO long.
It was a great little trek to the grocer today, to see how MUCH the prices have risen (again).
And we're rarely disappointed in that regard.
Those $50 grocery bills are now nesting comfortably in the $70+ range these days.
Some weeks, we best EIGHTY bucks...for the two of us and the cats.
Nice to know that WALGREENS was OUT of their sale item (Coke 2 ltrs - 4/$5).
To think we have a Coca-Cola DISTRIBUTION CENTER in town, too...
Should be easy enough to get the product to the STORES...and in ADEQUATE quantities.
'Ya think?
But hey, it was raining, and that washes all the problems away, right?
Well, maybe...sorta, kinda.
( "Someday a REAL rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets" - Travis Bickle / Taxi Driver)
We can...but hope.
*** Elsewhere...
A great ending to a story the news had up yesterday about an EMERGENCY landing at FWIA.
I heard the FWFD call go out on the radio when the plane was about 25 miles out, and that the pilot of a single-engine aircraft was experiencing a "problem" with the landing gear (nose wheel).
Here's the story as presented by local news:
(( Plane makes emergency landing at Fort Wayne International
by Elbert Starks III of The News-Sentinel
small plane was forced to make an emergency landing Thursday afternoon at Fort Wayne International Airport after the pilots and airport determined that the landing gear on the aircraft would not lock into place.
he incident began around 4:20 p.m., according to Tory Richardson, executive director of the airport. The pilot of the plane, (a 1954 Beechcraft E-35 Bonanza) contacted the airport and notified them of the initial problem. Air traffic controllers had the plane circle the airport and visually confirmed that there appeared to be a problem with the landing gear before allowing the aircraft to attempt the emergency landing on Runway 23, Richardson said.
he aircraft circled back and touched down around 4:40 p.m., Richardson said, and gradually decreased speed until the pilot was able to shut down the engines. The nose wheel of the aircraft did, indeed, collapse after the plane came to a stop, damaging the propeller and front of the plane, Richardson said.
Fort Wayne International was closed for roughly 10 minutes during the incident, but normal operations had resumed by 4:45 with the airport opening an alternate landing strip.
Richardson said the next step in the process is securing the aircraft and making sure it is capable of being moved off the runway without further damage, then taking it to another location for inspection, likely another hangar close by. Richardson said the airport will forward any information it has gathered to the Federal Aviation Agency, which will determine what steps will be taken next.
Richardson said the plane had taken off from Oshkosh, Wis., and was on its way to Gaithersburg, Md. There were two people on the plane, Richardson said, and neither was injured. He credited them for bringing the plane in safely.
"There doesn't appear to be too much damage to the plane," Richardson said.
"(The incident) went as good as you could have hoped for." ))
Some media sources listed this as a CRASH-landing...and that smacks of inappropriate sensationalism.
It was an EMERGENCY landing...a FORCED landing. There was really no "crash" about this.
It was a controlled touchdown, plain and simple...just without a nose wheel to sit the front of the plane down upon, that's all.
Stall speed for such a vintage aircraft (it's ALMOST as old as I am, so I must be "vintage" as well,,,LOL) is pretty damn low (55 MPH, dirty), so the landing must have been like slowing a car from highway speed...while staring DOWN at the tarmac when the nose dropped past level.
You have the land it like a "tail-dragger", avoiding too much of a "flare-up" or you'll stall and drop like a stone onto the runway.
The pilot did a textbook job of a perfect landing under such conditions.
Hell, I'd fly with him ANY day.
Here's the incident report from the aviation-safety.net site:
(( http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=137752
Date: 28-JUL-2011
Time: 4:30pm LT
Type: Beechcraft E35 Bonanza
Operator: Patrick J. King (rgd. owner)
Registration: N3236C
C/n / msn: D-3901
Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Minor
Location: Fort Wayne International Airport - KFWA, IN - United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature: Private
Departure airport: Wittman Regional Airport - KOSH
Destination airport: Montgomery County Airpark - KGAI
Narrative:
The pilot of a Beechcraft Bonanza diverted to Fort Wayne International Airport (KFWA), IN, to make an emergency landing after having problems with its landing gear.
During the landing roll out the (not fully locked) nosewheel collapsed.
Both occupant escaped unhurt. ))
God, I love happy endings!
And the plane looks to be barely damaged at all (scuffed the paint a little, but they built them TOUGH in the early 50s...kinda like me...LOL)
After a thorough check of all the related systems, Ilm sure the pilot will be able to continue his flight to MD with no problem.
*** And it's ANOTHER shooting on the....(all together, gang...) the SOUTHEAST SIDE...(thank you).
(( Shooting On Drexel Avenue; One Person In Serious Condition - By Maureen Mespell
July 28, 2011
Updated Jul 28, 2011 at 10:18 PM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) -- Fort Wayne Police are at the scene of a shooting that happened just before 9:30 Thursday night.
Shots rang out in the 1900 block of Drexel Avenue.
Police scanner traffic indicates that one person was shot and rushed to a local hospital in very serious condition.The police have several witnesses to what happened and that officers may also have a suspect in custody. ))
Could it be retribution for the shooting ion Winter street? Another "random" act of violence by the black community?
And WHERE are the so-called community "leaders" decrying this appalling behavior by their OWN kind?
Tell you, if I knew the ANSWERS to all of these, I could run this "dog and pony show" tomorrow, and not break a sweat!
But I STILL would not want to...this city doesn't seem like it WANTS to return to NATURAL justice..not right now anyway.
*** Lastly today...this whole "debt-crisis" gig is wearing thin...all the posturing, the meetings, the "debates", the "plans", and so on...it's enough to put one off their oatmeal in the morning.
What I question is WHY we can't just back up to government spending of say...the REAGAN era...or even the CLINTON era.
Why have WE (the people) allowed this rampant spending to proliferate at such a pace.
And why RAISE the debt ceiling?
Isn't that like raising one's CREDIT CARD LIMIT when you're ALREADY maxxed the hell out?
How in God's name would that help ANY person to spend less and save more?
Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just cut the damn card the hell UP and pay the balance off?
That's the way "WE" do it...and it works.
This is like giving a drug addict another hit to keep them going so they won't make that bad decision to do more drugs...it's INSANE!
If we don't raise the ceiling, our global status will be hurt...well, we made that bed, so now this nation's elected officials have to lie in it, I suppose.
I'd like to see a return to common sense...not tossing money about like it's growing on trees, because it's not.
And printing MORE money is certainly NOT the answer...that just artificially inflates everything ('cause the bucks ain't worth as much, then...see how that works), and that's one of the last things we need now.
We have to watch, listen and learn (sounds like my grade-school teaching), in order to get things set back to rights.
And we have to make sure those we DO elect are paying the hell attention, and not feathering their OWN nests (agendas) and greasing the palms of their cronies, as has been the case for way too long.
With some steadfastness, and persistence to perseverance, we CAN make it through all this.
Remember, it could ALWAYS be worse.
And if we're not all careful, it soon WILL be.
Have yourselves a fantastic weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and as always...
Stay safe out there, America.

Tales From the SOUTH Side...
Yes my friends, time again for some of the stories that demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt WHY this part of Fort Wayne has the problems it does...an WHY, when something that is as chronically broken as THIS part of town is, NEVER seems to get fixed to any noticeable degree.
*** Yesterday, I linked to a 2009 story by Kevin Leininger about the real issues on the SOUTH EAST side (where the Bobby G. Fortress of Reason happens to be situated), and if you read the article, you can plainly SEE the evidence behind the problems, as well as those that I harp on continuously.
(And if you DIDN'T read it - shame on you...get back there and read it...I can wait...lol)
Now, I ALSO mentioned back on 12 July about a "new" housing project (rent-to-own) that will be located along S. Hanna St (near the Public Safety Academy, and also close by to the apartments down there that have their own share of criminal activities).
That project will figure nicely into today's post about the REPLY Mr. Leininger received from one Hana Stith, an advocate of racial divisiveness in her own right.
Think of this as:
"Turf Wars - Revenge Of The Stith"
(with apologoes to George Lucas), okay?
Since her reply is rather LENGTHY in nature, here is the link...now go read it, before I have to make you drop and give me twenty:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100730/EDITORIAL/7300326
(the few comments alone are from people who "get it" when it comes to the SE side as well)
Hana did get a few things correct (which have little bearing on Kevin's article), such as mentioning RED-LINING by real estate agents and forcing people into foreclosure (as a result). That was PROVEN down here, and opened the floodgates for HUD to come on in...and we ALL know what follows in THEIR wake, don't we?
She mentioned the METRO SQUAD as well, and that is SUPPOSED to target gangs and the subsequent issues surrounding that behavior.
Funny thing about the SE side and gangs...the MAJORITY is the "minority" in that regard, meaning that BLACKS lead the way in gang-related activity, followed by Hispanics.
Now WHO would have known that with SO many blacks and Hispanics down there, the ODDS would favor THEM for such things, hmn?
Whites are the new minority down here, and I can attest to that.
As a result, "WE" are the "chosen ones" (but not to become Jedi Knights, bringing order to the galaxy...DAMN!), and that means WE are the ones targeted the most for racism, disrespect and crime...period.
Of course, I AM speaking about the law-abiding whites who are in the crosshairs here, and not the meth-head zombie dopers wandering about with less to live for than the entitlement driven minorities.
Hana needs to remove herself from the 1960s... all white folks are not the "devil", as Louis Farrakhan would have some believe.
Ms. Stith also claims the school system summarily EXPELS black students...that is NOT true.
ANY student will be expelled when they are more of a hindrance to the OTHER 30+ kids in a given class than they are a help...that goes for ANY child or ANY color. It's not racism, although she wants to make it into that.
To quote: (( ...Stopping cars would take more guns off the street. A higher presence of police resulting in fewer homicides is not proved, but when the streets are flooded with police officers looking for trouble, trust me, there will be trouble. When young black men are stopped for no reason, they will become upset and that will lead to confrontations and blacks being arrested on all kinds of charges. ))
(( *AHEM* ))
Stopping cars takes a LOT more off the street than you think...guns, DRUGS, other contraband, not to mention the impairment suffered by such drivers that are arrested for being in that state (across the border from STUPID).
And any "trouble" that occurs is usually caused by BLACKS who attempt to FLEE the scene, be it a robbery, accident, or even a traffic stop.
Listen to the damn police radio, girl...hear the TRUTH out there.
THIS is the result of a "gimme" mindset...NO boundaries, NO respect, and NO qualms about doing whatever suits these mooks.
It's called CRIMINAL profiling...for a REASON, dear...get with the program.
You give the police CAUSE to pull you over, and you WILL be.
Drive like an idiot, play your crap music loud, have a busted light somewhere, drive impaired, or have "smoke" billowing from the vehicle...THAT will be awarded with a citation (or more). That's just common sense.
And what appears to be "Gestapo tactics" is for the protection of everyone involved.
When an officer takes someone who is resisting "to ground", it's to control a potentially uncontrollable situation.
And that means the perp isn't shot, and the officer stays alive to go home also.
Any breech of such training CAN result in death...and often has, or have you NEVER seen the police officer's memorial pages as to HOW they were killed? Ms. Stith needs to embrace the police, because if it were not for them, she could become just another statistic.
Now, that's all I have to say about that.
Moving on to the HOUSING PROJECT.
*** This is indirectly related to Hana Stith's "assessment" (accent on the "ass") about the SE side of town.
Here is the story as presented by WANE:
(( Neighbors: new housing plan is bad idea
Updated: Wednesday, 27 Jul 2011, 10:17 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 27 Jul 2011, 9:38 PM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A rent-to-own housing development is slated to be built on Fort Wayne's southeast side, near the Public Safety Academy. City Council approved the plan Tuesday, but some think it's a bad idea.
Many people who live nearby, like Cheryl Williams, said that side of town is already saturated with low-income housing and they're worried about who's going to move in.
"Somebody, anybody they don't care. Anybody, as long as you can pay your rent and you're low income you can move in. Although they say they have a screening process, I wonder. We can't even figure out what they screening process is. They haven't told us," said Williams.
City Councilman Glynn Hines, who represents people on the city's southeast side, sees it differently. "If you bring in a product, in this case a home ownership opportunity, then that would hopefully in the future stabilize the neighborhood," he said.
The plan calls for 49 brand new homes to be built on South Hanna Street. They will all be rent-to-own and available to households that make 60% below the median income for our area - which is about $45,000. After the home has been rented for 15 years, the occupant could
buy it.
"With this particular development, what makes it so unique is that the equity stays with the unit," Hines said.
Cheryl Williams disagrees. "We have the highest rate of low-income citizens living in the city of Fort Wayne. They live here," she said.
Councilman Hines said that's not the case with these homes. "The homes are $120,000. You tell me if you would consider that low income," said Hines. He thinks the new housing development will be good for business and jobs.
"They look for how many individuals live in that area," Hines said. "The more rooftops you have, the better it is to attract certain businesses."
"Subsidized housing is not the way to bring jobs. Glynn talks about rooftops. That's a lie.
It is not rooftops. There were no rooftops way out on Lima Road. It's not rooftops. What was out on Lima Road was money," Williams countered.
Construction could begin sometime later this year. The concerned neighbors said they're not giving up on trying to stop this development from being built. They plan to reach out to state and congressional leaders ))
( *WHEW*)
Talk about a clusterf*ck, eh?
I'd say that Ms Williams is RIGHT ON TARGET with her call on this project!
And I'd back her to the hilt.
She isn't representative of the entitlement mentality, and her willingness to call Hines out on the issue bears that much out...kudos to her!
(damn shame SHE doesn't live across the street from us...I would welcome the sanity)
This project IS a waste of time, money and effort...period.
(and will become the newest addition to Fort Wayne's Slumworld in the near future)
We have a greatest concentration of residents down HERE (yes, the people ARE DENSE in that regard...lol)
We ALSO have the SECOND HIGHEST amount of "disposable" income (according to some IPFW study a few years back, I believe), with only the NW being first with the "big bucks".
(Gee, and where are ALL the businesses located? UP NORTH)
We ALSO have the highest MURDER RATE and amount of CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
And we ALSO have the highest number of those at or below the "poverty" level.
Now, if you read my posts last week about POVERTY, you get an idea of what's in these rental cribs to begin with (much of the same as what's in YOUR house), so we're not talking APPALACHIAN or BOTSWANA'S poor here...not by a long shot.
Hines is another stuck in the VICTICRATIC carousel...
Too often, the forest can't be seen for the trees...and so go around again...more of the same old, and nothing ever gets accomplished.
It just gets a little bit worse...every year.
I would advise HIM (and Ms Stith) to read a short poem, written by a relatively little-known author named James Oppenheim.
*** Here is this small poem that speaks as a GIANT:
=========================================
The Slave
THEY set the slave free, striking off his chains...
Then he was as much of a slave as ever.
He was still chained to servility,
He was still manacled to indolence and sloth,
He was still bound by fear and superstition,
By ignorance, suspicion, and savagery...
His slavery was not in the chains,
But in himself....
They can only set free men free...
And there is no need of that:
Free men set themselves free
========================================
That, my friends (as Paul Harvey would say)...is the REST of the story...
I think there is a lot to be gleaned and learned from this.
And many times, we learn the MOST from things that are the "least"...Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

Humpday Happenings...
Our break from the heat has been short-lived. Today, we're slated to get back INTO the low 90s with higher humidity.
(Well, it IS summer, Bob...and MAY-BE the Earth shifted one degree on it's axis...we ARE due for that, according to scientists)
I hear the Earth shifts in such a manner every 15K years (give or take,...I dunno, I wasn't around then). In any event, we can hope that this rash of recent air-conditioner thefts will be curtailed down here.
In the meantime, we've some "stuff" to peruse, as well as some archival things to dust off and take from the shelf.
So here goes...hang on. This might get a little bit bumpy.
*** This story was one I heard first over the scanner yesterday and tacked it on at the end of that post..
(( Published: July 26, 2011 4:18 p.m.
Shooting victim collapses on sidewalk - The Journal Gazette
A shooting in broad daylight Tuesday on the city’s southeast side left a Fort Wayne man in serious condition.
Police were called shortly before 11:45 a.m. to the 4400 block of Winter Street about the shooting and found Marvin T. Billingsley, 23, on the sidewalk.
Witnesses told police that they heard the shooting and then saw the victim running south before collapsing on the sidewalk near Senate Avenue.
Police said it is believed that the victim had been in his white Pontiac Grand Prix and that he was engaged in conversation with on person when a second one approached, demanded money and then fired on him. ))
Now, if you notice, the car is parked the WRONG WAY on the street (against traffic flow - a COMMON thing down here, that seemingly ALSO...NEVER gets cited), but what's curious, is that Marvin was SITTING in his car, and then after he was shot, got OUT of the car and ran down the street where he collapsed.
Elevated heart rates will cause one to BLEED FASTER...(duh!).
Better to sit in the car, drive (if you can) to a place of safety, or just dig out the cellphone and call *911*...you'd THINK, anyway.
Now Marvin is a CLASSIC case of the failure of the judicial system, and here's the proof:
02D04-0504-IF-004661 Billingsley, Marvin T 04/11/2005
Allen Superior Court 5 IF - Infraction
Decided FAILURE WEAR SAFETY BELT
02D04-0506-IF-009006 Billingsley, Marvin 06/21/2005
Allen Superior Court 4 IF - Infraction
Decided FAILURE WEAR SAFETY BELT
02D04-0607-IF-011698 Billingsley, Marvin T 07/11/2006
Allen Superior Court 5 IF - Infraction
Decided FAIL STOP AT THRU-HIGHWAY
02D04-0610-IF-017952 Billingsley, Marvin T 10/06/2006
Allen Superior Court 6 IF - Infraction
Decided WRONG WAY ON ONE-WAY ST
02D04-0702-IF-003209 Billingsley, Marvin T 02/28/2007
Allen Superior Court 4 IF - Infraction
Decided OPERATE WHILE SUSP (INF)
FAILURE WEAR SAFETY BELT
02D04-0711-IF-019640 Billingsley, Marvin T 11/28/2007
Allen Superior Court 5 IF - Infraction
Decided OPERATE WHILE SUSP (INF)
EXCEED POSTED SPEED LIMIT
02D04-0803-CM-001929 Billingsley, Marvin T 03/31/2008
Allen Superior Court 6 CM - Criminal Misdemeanor
Decided LEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT
OPERATE WHILE SUSP (MISD)
02D04-0902-CM-000927 537788 Billingsley, Marvin T 02/18/2009
Allen Superior Court 5 CM - Criminal Misdemeanor
Decided OPERATE WHILE SUSP (MISD)
02D04-0911-CM-007359 Billingsley, Marvin T 11/30/2009
Allen Superior Court 6 CM - Criminal Misdemeanor
Decided RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT
POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA
02D04-0912-CM-007464 549674
549674 Billingsley, Marvin T 12/03/2009
Allen Superior Court 6 CM - Criminal Misdemeanor
Decided OPERATE WHILE SUSP (MISD)
EXCEED MAX LAWFUL SPEEDS
02H01-1101-IF-000101 000013620174 BILLINGSLEY, MARVIN T 01/04/2011
New Haven City Court IF - Infraction
Decided 9-24-19-1/IFA: Driving While Suspended
And yet, after being a CHRONIC violator, Good Old Marvin is STILL behind the wheel of a vehicle...AMAZING.
But wait, there is a little bit MORE to this "accident waiting for a place to happen"...
(( Sunday, June 26, 2011, 12:00am
AUBURN — Local police officers arrested 15 people Monday night through Friday, according to DeKalb County Jail records.
Marvin T. Billingsley, 23, of the 1300 block of Spy Run, Fort Wayne, was arrested Wednesday at 7:37 a.m. by DeKalb County Police on a charge of driving while suspended having a previous condition. He posted $1,000 bond to be released at 10:55 a.m. ))
And YES, the SPY RUN ADDRESS is the exact same as our shooting victim's (1331 Spy Run Ave - Fort Wayne, IN 46806), but it's not his CURRENT address (2732 Stardale Dr APT 3 - Fort Wayne, IN 46816), nor is it any of the OTHER addresses he has used over the years (716 Baxter St., 1155 Fayette Dr., 3510 Cheviot Dr., 6020 Bunt Dr., 2737 Stardale #2. or 7217 Hickory Creek Dr, Apt 3A.)
Seems Marvin got himself a LOT of cribs to crash at...wonder how many ALIASES he has, or how many "baby-mamas" are in his "stable".
So, we can plainly deduce that this is NOT one of Fort Wayne's "stellar" citizens...just another typical buck-in-trouble.
*** Now I said all THAT, to say THIS:
Here is the link to an article from Kevin Leininger (The News-Sentinel) that goes WAY back to 2009:
(This is a BRILLIANT read - brings the plight of decent citizens into perspective and kicks the can of "racial-politicking" into the limelight)
http://news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100713/NEWS/7130306
A few excerpts from the story:
(( -- Which is precisely why those forces must be ignored, according to a former law-enforcement official who has seen firsthand how the politics of race can endanger the very people critics of police claim to protect.
-- "(Police) just have to endure it. It takes stamina and a thick skin, but they just need to keep on it and gain control".
-- "And once you do gain control, you need to maintain it," said Joe Squadrito, who was Allen County Sheriff in 1995 when he joined with the city police to create the "Metro Squad" to target the city's high-crime areas.
-- "(The central city) was out of control. We knew who the troublemakers were. We targeted people with active warrants and those committing most of the crimes," recalled Squadrito, who was sheriff for eight years.
-- Is the criminal element really so large that it reflects a sizable percentage of public opinion?
-- If so-called "saturation" patrols are at times justified and necessary in high-crime areas – and they are – the people doing the patrolling must not only be exemplary officers, but must be perceived as such. There is work to do on both sides.
-- "You'd be surprised what a difference (more patrols) could make," Squadrito said.
-- Whatever the reason, the southeast side of town – the place where I grew up and still remember fondly – will be less than it can and
should be until the vast majority of its residents not only embrace the police but refuse to tolerate lawbreakers in their midst.
-- Only then will most police officials – who must win elections or answer to people who do – consistently demonstrate the kind of do-whatever-it-takes backbone Squadrito properly suggests is necessary. ))
Yeah, that sums up VERY WELL what goes on (or doesn't) down here...and what I've been saying MUST happen to change this part of town around to somewhere people CAN live (instead of die, and at the hands of sh*t-for-brains perps).
Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the response to THIS article by Kevin, as well as some "comments" by those who see things they way they ARE, and now how they're perceived by ill-informed (and race-baiting) people in the SE side of town.
Oh yeah, there's LOTS of stuff that needs to be brought back out into the sunlight...where EVERYONE can get a good look, and see things for WHAT THEY ARE, instead of what some want them to be.
*** Lastly today, I'm not here to blow my own horn (although being right a LOT more often than not never seems to get old, unlike the rest of me...lol).
I'm here to seek the truth, and to freely distribute it to any and all who will lend an ear.
We live in very perilous times, whether we choose to believe it or not.
Morality has fled the scene in our society, everyone wants to dictate every facet of our lives for some odd reason, and wrest self-control out of our own hands (where it really belongs), civility has taken an "extended holiday", as we can plainly see on our streets today, and especially in such venues as PUBLIC TRANSIT and FAST FOOD establishments (fights breaking out like zits on a teenager's face).
Where DID our integrity GO...as a people?
When did "busting a cap" take the place of TIPPING one's cap?
And WHY have we allowed it to go on for SO damn long?
We can now say we have (at least) ONE complete generation that has grown up NOT knowing of such aspects of civil behavior...and that means it will take about THREE generations to UNDO this bane in our nation.
Those of us that have not "sold out to Big Brother" are the vanguard that must find a way to instill the pride...the values, and the core principles that ALL men and women need to adhered to, if they are to survive.
It won't be easy, but such things rarely are.
And it won't change overnight.
It will take that sense of Nin-Tai...persistence and patience, much like those in Japan after the Fukushima disaster.
We can learn a lot from such traits...traits we, as a people HERE used to have a much greater abundance.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

Tuesday Tidbits...
We finally caught a break (?) from all this HEAT...it's ONLY going to reach the mid-upper EIGHTIES today...
Wow, that's one helluva "cool-down"...
(yeah, time to let the pigeons loose...and then watch them walk the hell away, because it's too hot to fly)
And Wifey and I did our "artificial rainfall" for our plants...at least THAT money won't be lost to the heat and humidity.
So, let's take a stroll around the area, and see what's happening, shall we?
*** There seems to be a "new event" down here at the Ghettoland Abusement Park and Discount House of Pharmaceuticals...
That is the "Air-Conditioner REMOVAL" event.
I must have heard at least FIVE instances where someone (they all happened to be black males for some ODD reason) was trying to remove a window air-conditioner from a 1st floor window in some house in the area...imagine that.
Hey, the person in that house might have a condition that makes them NEED that air-conditioner (I know some people that fit the bill there).
Now, it would be interesting to see someone hoofing it down a street (or preferably, an ALLEY - which never gets PATROLLED) with a 5K BTU A/C unit on his shoulder. I would tend to think that the unit is certainly NOT his.
So did the people calling into DISPATCH. One caller said a black male was trying to take the unit, and then promptly hung up...LOL.
Be nice to see that buck meet one of the OWNERS of that air conditioner, namely MISTER REMINGTON!
Hell, at that close range, use a pistol and not a shotgun...don't want to HARM the AIR CONDITIONER, after all...THAT is worth more than the life of the thief stealing it...trust me.
That's one good thing about having a CENTRAL unit...a bit harder to just "walk away" with, and believe me, you DON'T want to cut the HIGH-PRESSURE line to remove the condenser...you REALLY don't.
Even scrap metal isn't worth the chance of being burned (or blinded) by the freezing liquid FREON coming out at about several hundred MPH (in your face).
But, stupid IS...as stupid DOES down here with the locals.
I just want to hear that a perp was shot dead trying to take an air conditioner...that WOULD make my week.
*** How can you get shot to death while FISHING?
This sad story demonstrates the utter stupidity of SOME people:
(( Published: July 26, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Alleged shooter of 4-year-old was barred from having gun - Dominic Adams The Journal Gazette
The man charged with reckless homicide in the shooting death of a 4-year-old boy remains in jail after a plea of not guilty was entered during his initial court appearance Monday in Wells County Circuit Court.
Bruce Pond, 46, of Ossian, is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
He’s accused of killing Jacob "Jake" Michuda on Friday.
Pond lived with his mother, Barbara Pond, in a home near where Jake was shot.
"We’ve been through living hell the last couple of days and I’m not adding any fuel to the fire," Barbara Pond said, declining further comment.
Jake, of Bluffton, was fishing with his father when he was shot in the temple.
Wells County Sheriff Monte Fisher told the Bluffton News-Banner alcohol was involved and that Pond apparently shot at a light on a pier where Jake and his father were fishing.
Pond also was charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of a firearm after being convicted of domestic battery.
In August 2010, Pond pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in Allen County and was prohibited from possessing a firearm, according to Allen County court records.
Prosecutors and detectives advised Jake’s family not to talk to the media for fear that a trial would be moved out of Wells County, Jake’s grandfather Mark Michuda Sr. said.
"The Wells County Sheriff’s Department is making a commendable effort and we are very pleased by their commitment and hard efforts working this case," Mark Michuda Sr. said.
Police and medics were called to 3936 East E. 900 N. shortly after 11 p.m. Friday and Jake was taken by ambulance to a Fort Wayne hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3:12 a.m., the Wells County Sheriff’s Department said.
Jake would have turned 5 next month. The family will receive visitors from noon to 8 p.m.
Tuesday at Lancaster Elementary School in Bluffton, and a funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the school, according to the Goodwin Memorial Chapel website. The funeral home said a private family Mass will be celebrated after the service at the St. Aloysius Church in Yoder.
Jake liked going to the beach, swimming, visiting the zoo and other outdoor activities, according to his funeral home’s website.))
This scumbag goes and shoots at a damn light, and winds up killing a young boy, while Dad watches it happen, unable to do anything...
THAT is part of the problem in this country...the LACK of (self) control by people. If Mr. Pond had issues with a stinking light, then maybe he should have just called someone...or at least bust the light during the day with a pellet gun.
And naturally, we'll hear more crap about GUN control, when we can all plainly see it was the PERSON that lacked CONTROL and needed to be BETTER controlled in the first damn place.
Mr. Pond had been drinking as well (that explains the prior misdemeanor domestic battery).
And he's got the balls to plead NOT GUILTY?
He "didn't mean to shoot Jake"...oh well, that makes everything FORGIVABLE then, right? Just a harmless "accident"...no problem.
WRONG...it's a HUGE problem.
And Mr. Pond IS guilty of that, first and foremost.
Here's a link to another story with a little more detail:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/bond-set-for-man-accused-of-shooting-4-year-old
The good news is that Pond ONLY faces up to EIGHT YEARS for reckless homicide.
Oh, wait, that's not really ALL that good..at least from Jake's standpoint, as well as his family's.
Well, Bruce Pond DOES have to live with this on his conscience...right?
Oh, wait, he doesn't seem to have much OF a conscience, otherwise he'd have thought TWICE before firing that weapon at some dumb light.
Obviously, he didn't know one of the MAJOR rules of firearm usage:
"Learn to look and KNOW what's behind your intended target."
That tends to take the "collateral damage" parameter out of the equation in most cases.
*** Elsewhere...there's this:
(( Shots fired into SE home
A home in the 4600 block of Bowser Avenue was vandalized by gunfire around 4 a.m. Sunday.
No one was injured in the incident, according to a Fort Wayne Police Department report.
Five shell casings were found in the front yard, and five bullet holes were in the walls of the home. One copper-jacketed round was found in the northwest bedroom of the home.
According to the report, the woman who owns the house was not at home at the time of the incident, but her son was, and he called her.))
I heard this call come over the radio a GOOD SIX HOURS after the event (supposedly) took place.
What I find VERY disturbing is that I did not hear or see anything about ANY signal *113* (shots fired) in the vicinity... at all.
It's like people there just take sh*t like this FOR GRANTED...just part of the day, like walking the girlfrie...I mean pit bull.
The only call that went in for a 113 was at 2100 Fox Av...not even CLOSE to the 4600 block of Bowser.
But...if we had PATROLS down here cruising around, LOOKING FOR CRIME, some officer would have probably HEARD something somewhere.
Now THAT is more like the PROTECT aspect by SERVING the citizens.
But, I guess it's much better (read easier) for the Command Staff of the FWPD to just arrive AFTER the fact.
Sorry, but as I've said here...that is NOT policing... That's INVESTIGATION...period.
Yeah, FWPD command could learn a few things if stopped trying to be politically-correct and ethnically pleasing, and just allow the officers to DO THE JOB they were hired for. Or they could just ASK ME!
*** But wait, there's more...
(( Updated Jul 25, 2011 at 5:37 PM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. / Indiana's NewsCenter - A 6-inch gas line was accidentally cut near Lewis and Winter Streets causing about 10 residents to be evacuated from their homes as a precaution. No injuries were reported. ))
Talk about an "OOPS" moment.
And I also heard this on the radio...sounded like a big deal, what with the gas spraying OVER TEN FEET into the air! ('ya think?)
I mean that was certainly a NO SMOKING ZONE, and they kept vehicles well away from the scene until things were out back to rights.
Funny thing...I always "thought" (and we know how dangerous to others that can be) that the utility workers had DIAGRAMS or city-supplied "maps" that showed WHERE such lines were, so when they work on a street, they DON'T "accidentally" bust a pipe or gas line.
With ALL the technology we have TODAY, that should be second-nature...
Guess not.
Weird...we never had AS MUCH of this when we DIDN'T have all this computer/GPS crap...wonder why?
*** Lastly today, I sure ripped a new ass for those in City Hall (in yesterday's post) when it came to the SE side of town, and I think I DESERVE to.
Personally, I LIKE this part of town...at least what it USED to be a dozen or so years ago, before crime got a REAL foothold and took the hell over, chasing whatever good aspects we still had AWAY.
If there is one thing you CAN say about the SE...it has POTENTIAL OUT THE ASS!
(for TRUE redevelopment, that is, and not some cosmetic facade of caring)
But, it's all contingent on the CITY wanting to do what NEEDS to be done, and the FIRST things is drive the crime OUT of the area.
It needs to hold the BLACK community leaders RESPONSIBLE for the INACTION they have take over the years to hold THEIR OWN PEOPLE accountable for declining living conditions here.
The city ALSO needs to get it's head OUT of it's OWN ASS when it comes to cajoling new businesses down here, and by that, I again mean that crime has to drop A LOT MORE than a mere percentage point or two.
THAT would entail more EFFECTIVE policing, and not some "ambassador of good will love-fest" between the citizens and the police.
They are here to SERVE AND PROTECT...the public (that's US).
They are not some puppets on a string, dancing to every whim of command so "they" can look good.
The ONLY really effective command is that which allows the street-beat cops not only to LOOK good...but DO good (by the community it serves).
You tackle the REAL problems in any community or neighborhood, let the residents know that they don't have to fear living there, and they will respond favorably. You ignore the small sh*t long enough and often enough, and you'll be hip-deep in BIG sh*t, and that won't illicit a positive response from ANY normal, law-abiding individual. They will determine that the police simply do not care.
That's been PROVEN, and for a LONG time, too.
And that's only human nature.
Give someone a REASON to help, and they will.
Deny them the opportunity, and much will be lost by many.
That is part of what makes up a good commmunity, because it's the way things USED to be.
We pull TOGETHER as a people...not apart.
Therein lies the lesson for today.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

(( Editor's Note - Breaking news: A multiple shooting on the SE side occurred before 1100 hours. The *20* was the 4400 block of Winter St. - details tomorrow, along with some "interesting tales" from the past - Stay tuned, boys & girls))

Monday Musings...
Been a rather sedate weekend here in Ft. Wayne's SE ghettohood...
I guess the locals don't like dealing with the heat (considering their land of origin, that's kinda odd. I thought Ghana or Botswana was NICE this time of year?)
Sure, we still have the boomcars (that never get caught) and we've had our share of police calls as SOME people STILL love to smack each other around first thing in the morning, no matter WHAT the temperatures are. Nice to know SOME things just refuse to change.
But, we here at the Fortress of Reason, refuse to knuckle under to ghettohood "conventionality".
We continue to UP our standards...after all, that's what evolution is all about...becoming better than you were the day before.
Damn shame these primates around us can't figure that one out...must be a "lack of a developed pre-frontal cortex" thing.
There are enough stories out there that it's a little difficult to choose what to post about today, but I found one in yesterday's paper that literally SCREAMED ( "You have GOT to go with this one, Bob" )...and so I shall.
Hard to argue with LOGIC...an REASON.
So here we go, boys & girls...please observe the rules for this ride, make sure the safety bar is down AND locked, and please, at all times while the car is IN MOTION, keep your hands and feet INSIDE of the car.
*** Published: July 24, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Racial shift noticed in southeast - Census: More blacks leaving
(Ron Shawgo The Journal Gazette)
Fort Wayne – Southeast Fort Wayne, deserted by many whites during previous decades, is now being abandoned by significant numbers of blacks.
Nearly 5,000 fewer blacks live in Fort Wayne’s southeast core than did in 2000, replaced by a nearly equal number of Hispanics and Asians, largely Burmese refugees.
Blacks still dominate the southeast with 19,300 residents. But with other minorities and whites making up the difference, there are more non-blacks among the area’s population of 39,100 than blacks, according to 2010 census figures.
(I predicted this would happen HERE in much the same way it has out in parts of California where Hispanics displaced the blacks)
The 20 percent decline among blacks in the city’s southeast comes as Allen County’s black population grew 10 percent in the last decade, according to the census.
While an increased number of blacks have settled farther south along the city’s border, greater numbers have moved throughout the city, with the largest change in the northern and western parts of Fort Wayne.
(Perhaps that's why Phil Marx's neighborhood HAS indeed IMPROVED...the riff-raff from HIS part of the SE moved farther south to MY area now)
The reasons for the movement are multiple.
For certain, the southeast has had hundreds of vacant or abandoned houses demolished over the years, reducing available housing. "There would be some population loss because we lost some housing units," said John Stafford, director of the Community Research Institute at IPFW.
(And we always run a list of over 400 houses that REMAIN on the list to be razed...damn shame many blacks TRASHED them, causing property values to TANK big time! There is NO background checks when houses are sold or rented "off the books", as it were)
Some blacks cite a shortage of stores, restaurants and other services in the southeast as reasons for the decline.
One of them is Tony Ridley, president of the Renaissance Pointe Neighborhood Association in an area the city has long eyed for transition.
What association members talk about, he said, is the lack of development.
"You have some loyal people here. But the bottom line is, I don’t know where they’re going," Ridley said. "They’re going where the jobs are, and evidently, the jobs aren’t here for them."
(That's not TOTALLY true, Tony. We have MORE liquor and convenience stores PER CAPITA per square mile than ANY OTHER part of town, but if you refer to REAL BUSINESSES, then I agree, because the CRIME forced them all OUT of this area...period!. But when it comes to blacks seeking work, too many of them REFUSE to work at all, except to claim that monthly gov't handout - ditto for the white trash meth-heads)
The largest black population increase is in the area of Lafayette Street and Tillman Road, two neighborhoods near the city’s southern border that gained more than 600 people. Ridley describes property there as reasonably priced with a good atmosphere and less congestion.
(Amazing how property values DROP when this occurs...it's happened to US.)
But in sheer volume, more than 2,600 more blacks are found in areas north and west.
An increase of 316 people more than doubled the number of blacks living in an area north of Lake Avenue, where Hobson Road cuts through to State Boulevard. Bordered west by Randallia Drive at Parkview Hospital and east by Coliseum Boulevard, the area contains several
apartment complexes, a number of them along Hobson. The area now has nearly 600 black residents.
(and Randalia Drive as well as Hobson Rd. are seeing MORE police calls...wonder WHY that is?)
Shira Menson, 31, has lived in Baldwin Creek Apartments at Hobson and State for four years.
She said she grew up in the area but knows a number of other black people who moved there from the southeast side.
"It’s a big change," but not a surprising one, she said.
Housing near State is centrally located, she said. There are many restaurants and fast-food shops nearby. And not far are Ivy Tech Community College, Brown Mackie College and IPFW. "The college is just down the street," she said. "It’s all about the location."
(ask ANY drug dealer...that happens to be TRUE)
For some blacks, the location is not Fort Wayne at all, but New Haven.
From South Anthony Boulevard, the 6-mile drive east on Oxford Street, past McMillen Park and out of Fort Wayne, goes from light industrial to suburban as Oxford jogs across railroad tracks to become Moeller Road.
Here on the south side of New Haven is Cameron Court Apartments, just south of Moeller, off Seiler Road. In 2000, no blacks lived in this part of New Haven, bordered by Moeller, Minnich, Seiler and Green roads. Today, more than 200 have settled here, according to census figures.
(And according to the police blotter, WHERE are we seeing MORE criminal activity?)
Overall, New Haven’s black population grew from 80 to 475 in the last decade.
(And now you know why THEY are seeing problems now)
Cameron Court is a new complex across from farm fields and within sight of Interstate 469.
Two months ago, Kyra Norris, 28, moved here from southeast Fort Wayne with her three young children.
About half of the apartment residents are black, said Norris, who moved from a house off McKinnie Avenue because of the cost.
"My brother and his girlfriend moved out here and said it was nice and cheaper," Norris said. "People don’t bother me, but (there’s) less crime, I guess."
(as long as you "play the game" when it comes to creating a slum district, no one WILL bother you...unlike US, who have tried for YEARS to keep our area from devolving further)
Due north, Marcus Lowe, 38, is filling his gas tank at a Marathon station near Maysville and Stellhorn roads. On the east side of Maysville is a new apartment complex among farm fields in the county. On the west side is a new housing subdivision within city limits.
(there goes THAT area, and the businesses nearby)
About 20 blacks lived here in 2000. Now, more than 200 do.
Lowe isn’t one of them. He lives in the Georgetown area off State Boulevard. But when he moved from Akron, Ohio, to Fort Wayne for employment a year ago, he had location in mind, schools in particular. He liked what he heard about Snider High School, where his son now attends.
There are lots of black and white people living in Georgetown, Lowe said. There’s more diversity in Fort Wayne than he saw in Akron, he added, "and people seem comfortable with that, too."
(And all it will take is ONE bad house to open up, and that area will be "handed over" to the flotsam of humanity...wait and see)
Lowe said he knows that from dealing with the public daily in his job servicing water softeners and purification systems.
"It’s a great place to be," he said of the city. "We’re happy here in Fort Wayne."
As for the southeast, Ridley isn’t giving up. He commends Hispanics for rehabbing long-vacant homes and living in them. And he discards the notion some blacks might be moving out because immigrants are moving in.
(Don't discard it totally, Tony...Hispanics don't take as much sh*t as you think, and WILL "defend their turf"...seen it all before)
For Ridley, reviving the southeast can be reduced to a formula.
"We try to draw business. Business draws jobs. Jobs draw rooftops," he said.
"It’s not lack of the city’s effort. The city’s made an effort. … I think it’s a lack of development and there’s nothing over here".
(Actually, it IS the city's lack of effort that dominates such a landscape as ours. We USED to have a lot more, but CRIME chased it all away, and it was mainly precipitated by BLACKS that moved down here...I've been here for close to 15 years, and I've SEEN the damage caused...very little of it reversible, because of a LACK OF CONCERN. The solutions are many, but the city NEVER wants to address the CAUSE of the problem for which these solutions are intended.The LACK of city concern is what CAUSES the lack of development, and the black community "leadership" is at the front of this pathetic "parade"...it's a domino-effect, plain and simple. )
"When you go toward Jefferson Pointe and stuff like that, there are things you want to go to", said Ridley
Wow, that was a LOT to take in...and SOME of it true. Much of it never really GETS to the "heart of the matter", though...
This paints one picture, while the REAL picture takes a much different route (to hell).
If one can call this situation anything, it's a perfect display of the new "double-standard" in Ft. Wayne.
We have, on the one hand, the way people SHOULD (or used to) conduct themselves as to behavior, stewardship of property, and the like, while on the other hand, we have others that do whatever the hell they want to, and the city all but looks the other way in pandering to them.

And they are almost all exclusively MINORITIES. And when a problem gets too "big", the city allows developers to come in and create a brand-new (like Renaissance Pointe) area, touting it as some universal panacea for societal woes, when ALL that is needed is for the city to ENFORCE the codes, laws and ordinances it has on the books, making ALL PEOPLE accountable (tenants, landlords and homeowners ALIKE).
It's not a new concept...it's just the way people USED to be, no matter where they lived, and no matter the color of their damn skin!
I will always maintain, that when you get rid of the CRIME in any given area, that area will bounce back, and it will take some time...but not before.
Now, if the city wants to "herd" certain people INTO a specific area to better "control" them...choose an area OTHER THAN MINE.
We supplanted the vertical ghettos of the past with horizontal ones "because these people need room to grow...to live". Cripes, that sounds just like Adolph Hitler back in 1938...and that sure as hell didn't pan out all that well for the Germans, did it?
What makes this city think things will be better under such similar auspices?
Diversity from a cultural standpoint is fine in AMERICA...that's what made this nation in the first place.
We are ALL descendants of immigrants in one way or another.
But when all the various CRIMES a part of any city "enjoys" becomes the ONLY "diversity" on the table, something needs to be looked into...and changed.
You find some way to remove the CRIME from the SE, and it will become a good part, a productive part of the city once again.
You just move the indigents and transient welfare queens to OTHER parts of the city, and you WILL see the already eroded TAX BASE for Ft.Wayne decline further...and we all know where that leads, right?
Just ask those in ABOITE who were forcibly ANNEXED into the city to shore up the tax base...
There's always THAT card to trump anything you might have in your hand.
Or, you can simply choose to get up from the table...when you know you're being dealt from the bottom of the deck.
Some games are intended to be rigged, and not in YOUR favor.
What YOU have to decide is whether or not to play
Have yourselves a good week, and remember to mind that heat and humidity.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.