07 October 2011

Friday Follies...
Another nice day here...again with temperatures in the low 80s...Indian Summer is still here.
Going to be a good weekend, too..weather-wise. Not a lick of precipitation to be found.
Got some interesting things to pass along today, so let's get the ball rolling...
*** Regular readers here know that I'm a straight-forward kinda guy...just the way I was brought up.
(blame my parents)
And the last time I checked, the Internet was mostly a free-reign domain.
Bloggers share pictures all over the damn place, and many see fit to publish those that attract one's attention, or make a certain point.
I'm like that.
I don't "steal" any pictures, and from what I've seen, whatever will "copy" is FREE, got it?
If I encounter a photo that has a HOTLINK-BAN on it...that means "hands off"...no problem.
I "get it".
But there is this bloke in the UK that "feels" that since I used ONE of "his" photos (back on 25 January), he should be "compensated"...
(( *ROLLS EYES* ))
Really? REALLY???
Well, the picture was secured through "open" means (no ban on copying), so what's good for one should be good for all, hmm?
Not to mention that "his" photo got some FREE PUBLICITY, courtesy of this blog...and I never asked for a check or any compensation.
(I know...I'm a nice guy along those lines)
But HE wants to arrange payment...yeah, like THAT pig is gonna fly.
(BTW, you can copy the photo as I did at ZAZZLE...DUH!)
So, I REMOVED the picture from the post, and I say good riddance.
And it's times like this that we see how "small" some people can be.
The sheer pettiness involved by this individual is beyond belief.
He's got a thriving photography business (apparently) and is all over facebook, twitter, and other social media.
Must be nice to go out and take pictures all day, every day of anything and everything ( and still find time to harass bloggers).
Wish I could do that...AND get paid to sell prints of them, as he does.
(Note to self: NEXT life)
In the meantime, we've more IMPORTANT things to attend to...
*** This is a followup to the story about the baby-beater (on whose jury I was "supposed" to sit, and was dismissed from).
Here's the story in it's entirety:
(( Published: October 7, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Boyfriend gets 18 years for beating baby - Rebecca S. Green The Journal Gazette
FORT WAYNE – Locked up and awaiting sentencing for beating his girlfriend’s baby into unconsciousness, Marquise Holmes laughed when he heard that the baby’s mother had been beaten badly after his conviction.
An audio recording of Holmes, 23, of the 900 block of Eliza Street, gleefully receiving the news about the assault on Leeandra Woods was played Thursday in Allen Superior Court before Holmes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the injuries he inflicted on the 6-month-old baby in late May 2010.
In February, Allen County prosecutors charged Holmes with battery to a child causing serious bodily injury and neglect of a dependant causing serious bodily injury.
According to testimony and court documents, Woods received a call from Holmes while she was running errands, telling her that the baby had stopped moving. The baby had seemed to be ill for days, and Woods took him to the hospital on two occasions.
Woods said that she found a "smushy" spot on the baby’s head, as well as lumps.
She said he was more mellow than normal and then began having trouble keeping food down. But the two times she took him to the hospital, doctors sent her home with prescriptions for a skin infection he didn’t have.
When the unconscious baby was taken to the hospital by ambulance, tests revealed he had suffered multiple skull fractures, some in varying stages of healing, according to court documents. The fractures were on the base of the baby’s skull, which doctors said would require a great deal of force.
The most recent injury, according to court documents, would have rendered the baby immediately unconscious.
Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Patricia Pikel played the jailhouse audio recordings for Allen Superior Court Judge John Surbeck to consider as evidence of Holmes’ lack of remorse for the damage he inflicted.
While Surbeck refused to consider Holmes’ apparent lack of remorse, citing his right to assert his innocence, the judge said he was offended by Holmes’ attitude, displayed in court and on the recordings.
As the recordings were played, a group of young women, one carrying a small child, shook their heads and smiled at Holmes.
After Holmes received the news that Woods had been attacked, he immediately called one of the women with whom he has a child.
"You shoulda beat the (expletive) outta her," he said to the unidentified woman on the phone.
"I knew she was going to get crashed. Everybody said she was going to get crashed."
Then it appeared Holmes called his sister, again laughing and cheering the beating.
"Porsche told me," he said on the recording, "I was like ‘yeah.’ "
He then told his sister to get onto his Facebook page and post that he was grateful to whomever it was who had administered the beating.
The woman on the other end of the line said she’d do it, adding "that’s what she get."
Holmes expressed a belief he would be out of the Allen County Jail and free in just a short time.
"I’ll be right back in a minute," he said. "Keep me in ya’ll prayers … the bitch got what she deserved."
Throughout the hearing, Woods sat in the back of the courtroom with her family, wiping tears from her eyes and glaring at Holmes.
When it was her turn to speak, Woods expressed the disruption and pain Holmes’ actions have brought to her life – continued therapy and struggles for her son, and more recently threats and violence toward her.
"When this person get out," she said, crying, "who knows what’s going to happen."
Holmes told the court he has four children and treated Woods’ son like his own.
Surbeck sentenced Holmes to 18 years in prison on each of the charges but ordered the sentences to be served at the same time.
"I’m candidly offended by the defendant’s attitude," Surbeck said. "But it’s not particularly surprising, actually."
Holmes said he intends to appeal his sentence.
Prosecutors said no additional charges have been filed in the case.
))
*AHEM*
Somehow, you just KNOW a piece of crap WHEN YOU SEE ONE...
And Marquise Holmes fits the bill.
Surbeck surprised me by refusing the evidence as Holmes' lack of remorse...are you KIDDING ME?
This "person" HAS no remorse, and the fact that he probably "contracted" a beatdown on Woods pretty much seals it.
The phone audio SHOULD and NEEDS to be taken into account.
And whatever happened to ONE phone call? Didn't know we had a message service ongoing at lockup.
Wonder if he managed to "tweet" about it?
This is ridiculous.
Surbeck SHOULD be offended by the defendant's attitude, and SHOULD have amended the sentencing accordingly.
THAT is why the judicial system is as screwed the hell up as it currently is...
The only justice would seem to be NATURAL justice.
We'll stay on top on the "appeal"...and I hope that only nets this jerk MORE time in the slammer.
Human refuse like this NEEDS to be put away...for a LONG time.
Elsewhere, around the ghettohood...
*** Last night started out as most every other night...a few boomcars interrupting either The Battle for Okinawa, or Transformers 2 - The Rise of the Fallen (a decent flick, too), but it was manageable for the most part, until I got up to look out the front door (as I like to do every 30 minutes or so)...
Imagine my astonishment (at about 2135 hours) when I saw about FIVE "plain-wrappers" out front of the house (several types of unmarked FWPD vehicles, along with sevral marked cars), with men getting out of them...ARMED men...with SHOTGUNS and M4 carbines being cocked (complete with tac-lights)...
(( "WTF???" ))
It was then that Wifey came in and said: "What's with ALL the police out front of our place with guns?"
I answered: "Wasn't me...I didn't shoot anyone...yet."
A burgundy pickup was stopped further down the street, and the officers were looking about.
(This was certainly NOT your "typical" 30T/S - traffic stop...unless the FWPD has gotten REAL strict about the failure to use your signals.)
I leaned out the door and one officer said "Stay in your house".
I asked another officer if he wants a larger spotlight (he was using a hand-held mini tac-light), 'cause I have one.
He answered: "Thanks, I'm good".
'Nuff said, there.
I closed the door and then proceeded to watch the "action" unfold.
(damn, and I so wanted to assist, too)
The officers canvassed the side of our property, then proceeded to the neighboring (vacant) house, checking out the back really well. Lit the thing up like nobody's business with all the handheld lighting they carried.
They swept the area well...just like in the movies (and I never felt safer around here in some time, due to that).
Didn't know if it was a WEAPON they were searching for, or CONTRABAND.
The officers didn't seem to find anything, and after a time, let a white female go in the truck.
There must have been another involved (male), because one of the officers mentioned to another:
"Did you see that guy?...he was really jacked."
I couldn't see if he got a "cuff n stuff", as they pulled the truck over between street lights (damn).
As it wound down, I asked Wifey if she heard any radio chatter....nothing.
(must have been on a tactical channel)
Plus, most of the chatter was officer-to-officer vocally...no radio needed.
When the officers were going back to their respective vehicles, the one black officer I offered my spotlight to waved at me and nodded...
I waved back a slight salute..I knew he appreciated the offer.
This was over and done within 20 minutes...end of story.
((Editor's note: FYI - This call was listed as a signal *62* - party armed.))
All this does is demonstrate that we DO have a problem down here (I've said so for YEARS), and that sometimes, it DOES get addressed.
Personally, I'd love to see a lot MORE police presence down here...got no problem with that at all.
I mean, I see ALL kinds of sh*t going on daily...stuff the FWPD never gets to "enjoy" in the manner that I do.
Our quadrant captain never even got back to me about that fight on our lawn last month, either...wonder why?
I'd be the first one to readily admit that we have some houses around us that could use a bit of surveillance (hint, hint).
*** We have a Hispanic family moving into the vacant house 2 doors down, and I'll bet they know NOTHING about what goes on around here...and they have a child (and from what a neighbor tells me, they seem very nice and proper).
Hell, the male's been pumping OUT the damn basement of the house for 2 days, so at least he knows what WORK IS.
He didn't know the house came with an "indoor water feature"...that's the way real estate is transacted around here...by word-of-mouth, and I'd wager that the local housing authority doesn't even show this kind of stuff on their radar.
When a house USED to change hands (person-to-person, or bank-to-person...whatever) there USED to be an INSPECTION PROCESS...having some official "take the tour" and determine the habitability of a property...long list of items to check, too.
Electrical, sewage, plumbing, walls, roof, basement, square footage (per person occupancy limits), heating, kitchen, functional "amenities" where provided (fridge, stove, etc)...lotsa stuff that needs going over.
All too often, this is BYPASSED when a person rents or even sells to another "off the books", as it were.
Inspectors never get a chance to enter the house at all.
And that's why we have HOVELS instead of houses sprouting up around us THESE days.
That also explains WHY property values are in the crapper...no accountability by whoever owns these places.
Talk about a real SCAM...against the people who buy such a place, as well as a scam against the city and real estate agencies.
When it comes to most ALL the other people who inhabit our former neighborhood, it comes down to one thing:
"If it wasn't for DOUBLE-STANDARDS, these people wouldn't have ANY standards AT ALL...!!!"
One person can make a difference...I've always believed that.
I also believe in strength in numbers, and when confronted by a belligerent individual meaning to do you harm, it's better to shoot first, and let God sort it all out, because I'd much rather be judged by TWELVE, than to be carried by SIX.
(even if those 12 aren't smart or truthful enough to get out of jury duty...lol)
Life is full of people who are fantastic to come to know...it's also filled with a lot of the "small" folks...those who are set on making things rough for the rest of us. We need to discern who we want to have around us, and who needs to be called out for being an asshat.
I've got enough idiots around us down here, so anyone that comes CLOSE to being NORMAL will work for me, any day.
Whatever time I've got left is best utilized in self-improvement and "fine-tuning" who I AM.
And I think that should be the case with ALL of us.
The day we stop improving is the day we start taking that long dirt nap.
I'd like to postpone that as long as possible...too much still to see and do.
Have yourselves a marvelous weekemd.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and as always...
Stay safe out there, America.

06 October 2011

Winding Down The Week...
Yep, closing in on that elusive weekend with another nice day in the Heartland - temps supposed to reach into the high 70s today, and continuing into the weekend (don't count out those vegetables in the garden just yet, folks).
And it looks like I might be spending a little chunk of the morning mowing the front lawn (hopefully for the last time this year).
We'll save the side lawn for the weekend (that's the issue with a CORNER property...lotsa lawn...lol)
And the answer to yesterday's "WHO SAID THAT?" quote is OLIVER CROMWELL (1599-1658) - "Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking." (WTG, CWM...staying awake in history class DID pay off...lol)
Anyway, let's get this show on the road, shall we?
*** I've been thinking about the whole prohibition thing since the Ken Burns film aired this past Sun-Tues, and "if" something like this were to happen TODAY, I honestly don't know which side of the fence I'd be sitting on.
I do enjoy a drink from time to time, and yet I don't miss NOT having it available.
I don't "need" it to survive or even exist.
There are times when I can honestly claim that it takes me long enough to polish off a six-pack (of Guinness or Sam Adams) that the bottles have accumulated a bit of DUST on them.
Ditto for the harder liquor - It will take me the better part of a YEAR to empty a bottle of scotch.
So, I'm a cheap date, right?
No, but I always DID know how to "nurse" a drink, especially when you had to pay BY THE GLASS (or bottle).
Like anything in life, it's always best to SAVOR the moment (or the beverage).
Everything I have in our house that is a "potent potable", is NOT meant to be guzzled, but rather sipped, and I think that's where a lot of people get off track. They don't know HOW to enjoy something...anything...everything.
To them, it's consume...then consume some more.
Bet they couldn't tell the difference between a LAGER beer and a PILSNER, let alone the brand...even by sight.
If I were living in the prohibition era, I sure would have STOCKED UP ahead of time, and yes, that would have made me a "law-breaker", but given the manner that the 18th Amendment was enacted and how it was pursued, I think any REASONABLE American would have seen it for what it truly was.
Government intrusion into the "home" for the sheer sake of doing so, is NOT what this nation is about (or ever should be).
Now, I've spent my share of time in bars of ALL types...and for a lot of different reasons.
My Dad used to take me to the tap-room when he played darts, and I sat on a bar chair sipping my coke (felt like a real man, too...and all at 6-7 years old). But that was OK to do. Mom knew Dad wouldn't get sh*t-faced with ME in tow, and I would get some free sodas from Dad and the other guys there (nice little angle I had going on). Everyone made out fine.
Dad was pretty much a beer drinker, but he would have a Manhattan once in a while...or a boilermaker.
Mom liked sloe gin and 7-up, or mixed cocktails, but would have a beer now and then.
Never saw mom get wasted, either. In fact, she could drink Dad under the table (on a dare).
Dad would get toasted every now and then, but he was a "happy drunk", and always fell the hell asleep...LOL.
I guess you could say I got lucky there...coulda been a helluva lot worse.
Dad would wander in from the bar, humming to himself, and Mom's radar was at full power. She read him the "riot act" and then that was it...they went to bed. Never saw dad with a hangover either...I tell you, that's just not normal.
I did my share of "over-imbibing", too, and paid the price for it by "driving the porcelain bus" on more than a few occasions. That wonderful "technicolor yawn", as we used to call it. You just want to die...you feel that bad.
But, after enough attempts to prove that you "think" you can handle anything that sits on the bar (and failing marvelously), you "get the hint"...
Drinking is not the "career choice" you thought you wanted, so you refrain. And rightly so.
I admit to driving while impaired many, many years ago, and got away with it (meaning, I was never pulled the hell over).
And you LEARN from that, too.
After all, a car is a pretty big "investment", and you really don't want to see it wrapped around some light pole or in a lot more pieces than what took to build the damn thing, because of YOUR OWN stupidity, so...so "back off the booze".
You can do a lot of other stupid things in life WITHOUT amending it with alcohol, so why add insult to (possible) injury, eh?
So, I guess I would have to say that I would have been opposed to prohibition, as long as people could find better ways to POLICE THEMSELVES.
Yet, even today, we find such is not the case...people just don't give a flying coital involvement.
All the things Prohibition was meant to eradicate continued during that era, and are still with us today.
Thankfully, we DO have programs that help those in need of help, such as AA (founded in 1935, and basically a redo of the old Washingtonians, who abstained from alcohol).
But, too many folks still insist on getting sh*t-faced, and always with the same predictable results.
Several hundred thousand people every year are victims of drunk-driving in some manner, either directly or indirectly, and the costs associated with such imbibing are part of the reason our insurance costs are so damn high.
Domestic abuse is often the result of someone drinking, as are many homicides, assaults, rapes, and the like.
Just the other day, we had a stabbing here (of a white man by a black man) in Ft. Wayne, resulting from an "argument".
Here's the link to the story:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20111006/LOCAL07/310069970
Now, forgive me for pressing logical thinking and civil behavior here, but USUALLY, two REASONABLE PEOPLE can pretty much come to terms in most any argument and arrive at some common ground...or they can just walk the hell away from it.
Add a bit of hooch into the mix, and the smallest of disagreements easily escalates into one of the other pulling a weapon of some sort and using it.
Now, I'm not saying this stabbing on Tuesday was "alcohol-fueled", but it has a damn good probability of being so.
I know that it's not all that easy to deal with a drunk, especially if they're a "stranger".
Just Ask Momma Fargo...hell, she finds the "picks of the litter" when she rolls up to a D&D situation (drunk & disorderly and NOT dungeons & dragons...LOL) They can be confused, all-loving, combative, lethargic, schizo, passed out...or a combination of ALL the aforementioned.
And they can change demeanor in a heartbeat.
Those are not "happy" drunks...not one bit.
I drink because I can...and because I like the taste of certain liquors and the combinations.
I knew enough bartenders (in several countries) that I enjoyed the ability they had to make mixed drinks.
I do practice Ben Franklin's edict: Everything in moderation - nothing in excess, and that works for me.
Others...not so much.
And it's even worse when DRUGS are added in.
We have one black guy that wanders about the streets (usually at night, when all the other weirdos show up), going from one house to another (where the f$ck does he live?) and he's "singing" ...sort of...and badly, too. can't tell if it's supposed to be a "rap" or not, it's that bad...and unfortunately LOUD.
Now Mr. "Tu-Putz" is someone that has no qualms about "sharing" his inebriated or stratospheric feelings...with everyone, but the thing is, no one else seems to think it's bothersome.
Well, guess what? To THIS transplanted Philly guy...IT IS.
I did pass this information along to the FWPD quadrant captain...for all the good that will do.
What I do know that if he EVER becomes confrontational with me (when HE'S the one being a asshat), I will end him where he stands.
If this person cannot find the self-restraint and self-control to whoa-up his action, I certainly am not going to be the recipient of his boisterous activities.
You wanna get stoned out of your mind?
Fine, do it SOMEWHERE ELSE, like at whatever crib you're crashing at these days.
Let your "government-sponsored baby-mama" deal with it, and stop acting the fool ON THE DAMN PUBLIC STREETS.
Then again, IF we had POLICE PATROLS to look for stuff like this, he'd have been "rolled" before this became a regular activity around here.
It's when people who have little control of themselves when SOBER take to have even LESS control after a few drinks of some tokes on a blunt.
It's not an alcohol problem, or even a drug problem at this point.
It IS...(altogether, gang)...A PEOPLE PROBLEM.
And when we (as a society) start seeking the root cause and treat THAT, instead of the symptoms, things will begin to be better for everyone, including the drunk or the stoner.
But having the government "do it for us", is not the answer. Their job is to run the nation...not our lives.
That alone can be the biggest challenge for them...AND for us.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

05 October 2011

Humpday Happenings...
Another nice Indian Summer day in the Heartland - highs supposed to be in the MID-SEVENTIES, so it's a fine day to be most anywhere else (for me).
Before I forget - it's time for "WHO SAID THAT?"
Today's quote is:
"Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking"
(hint - he overthrew the English monarchy)
Now...moving on...
Amazing how (seemingly) so many people, such as those living around us, cannot grasp a basic concept such as rudimentary enjoyment of a decent life, and the things that comprise it. Too busy with their primate faces glued to an iPhone, or plugged into some iPod to notice...damn shame.
Many of them are too wrapped up in the enjoyment of their "poverty" to even bother with such things as living a good life, or being a good citizen.
As long as the entitlements keep rolling their way, all is well with the world (which usually consists of a couple of city blocks).
Don't have to do a damn thing, or lift a damn finger (except to text or dial another freeloader up so they can get together and compare "notes")...not at all. All they really HAVE to do is make sure they have a good LOUD voice, in case they don't get enough free stuff in life...so they can bitch a fit to everyone about their "plight".
And much of this state of affairs can be directly attributed to the fallout from our Prohibition era...believe it or not.
Who could have known that banning alcohol would have as many and such far reaching effects decades later, but it has.
*** Last evening was the final episode of PROHIBITION: A NATION OF HYPOCRITES, and it was every bit as good as the first two installments.
It picked up the story about 6-7 years into prohibition, and showed how many folks were not only getting as much booze than before (in many cases, even more), but how the general public was becoming less enamored with the whole deal.
The "drys" were still staunchly defending the alcohol ban, but the "wets" were gaining more traction the longer the ban went on.
Crime bosses ran the larger cities, with Capone basically OWNING all of Chicago - everything from trucking, to poultry distribution, to prostitution. Almost anything that could be taken over, pretty much was.
One interesting thing was that the DAIRY businesses were left untouched, and Capone regretted that saying that the "markup" for a quart of milk was greater than that for a quart of hooch...now THAT was a real racket.
Politicians were easily bought, as were the local constabulary, and no matter how many rival gangsters were gunned down, Capone was never indicted and never arrested (he was in his other house in Palm Beach, Florida - he couldn't have done that).
The ORIGINAL "Teflon-Don", as it were...nothing seemed to stick.
This reached it's zenith in a small garage on the 14th of February, 1929, when the alleged target of a Capone "hit", Bugs Moran was supposed to meet seven of his "soldiers" there for a meeting to discuss territorial disputes erupting from the beer wars.
Four men met with Moran's people, two dressed as policemen, and proceeded to gun the seven down with shotguns and Tommy guns.
Moran was late for the meeting, as he was getting a haircut.
Citizens became understandably outraged.
But Capone was a folk hero to so many...giving to charity, playing Santa to impoverished kids in the neighborhoods, and even opening up SOUP KITCHENS after the Crash of 1929 on Wall St, which began the Great Depression in America.
Trying to bust him for anything "illegal" was going to be a real chore.
Herbert Hoover took the reigns of power from outgoing president Calvin Coolidge, and his Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon was tasked with finding a way to take down Capone, using a two-prong approach - tax evasion and the Volstead Act.
It's here that Burns film neglects one person of note: Eliot Ness.
Ness joined the Treasury Department in 1927, and was appointed to head the Chicago office under Volstead, tracking Capone's shipments, supply routes, and illegal breweries.
Initially, Ness selected FIFTY team members, then reduced the number to 15 and finally ELEVEN hand-picked men from the prohibition agency.
Regarded as never being one to accept bribes, his team became known as "The Untouchables".
The main source of information for the raids Ness orchestrated came from a new technology - the WIRE TAP.
The efforts of Ness's team had a large impact on Capone's operation, but had little to do with the the Treasury department's conviction of Capone (for tax evasion), which came about by 1931. Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 22 counts of tax evasion and 5,000 violations of Volstead.
Meanwhile, the people kept on drinking, as if Capone was still out on the streets...the "business" kept on going.
People and politicians alike grew weary, and were wanting to repeal the 18th Amendment, but some said that was all but impossible - no one had EVER repealed ANY amendment of the Constitution.
Time would prove them wrong.
Mabel Willebrandt, the staunch defender of Volstead did not become Attorney General under Hoover's administration (as hoped), so she resigned for a private practice, later as counsel to the Screen Actors Guild and California wine growers.
In her place came Pauline Sabin, a upper-class woman who founded the WONPR (women's organization for national prohibition reform). And she selected female followers from EVERY class of citizenry.
She had become disenchanted with prohibition, as were so many others, and she fought long and hard for reform to the Volstead Act.
When the stock market crashed, that only added insult to injury for Hoover. Poverty was now the big issue, as was jobs, because not only were the distilleries and breweries closed, damn near everything else was, too.
America saw 25% unemployment rates...unheard of even by today's standards.
It was little wonder that FDR won the next election handily enough.
His platform included "amending" Volstead to include beer and wine (as was originally wanted by many) and consumption in the HOME would not be a crime any longer.
It was not long before a bill was passed in congress to repeal the 18th Amendment, and it took less than a year for the states to ratify it, thereby creating the 21st Amendment - the end to prohibition.


*** But, it's far from the end of the story...
So, what did America LEARN from all of this?
--It learned how to circumvent a federal law, and it learned that ANY law is only as good as the enforcement behind it.
--America became more of a hedonistic society (at least in the major cities), and regard for law-enforcement in general sank to new lows.
Blame that on the ease at which so many could be bribed to "look the other way".
--America looked at politicians in a whole new light as well, thanks to women like Pauline Sabin, who saw hypocrisy walking hand-in-hand with politics.
--We ushered in the JAZZ age, and with it, a new sense of life moving at a quicker step than in times past.
--We learned that regular citizens can become criminals. And we learned that trying to control behavior through federal laws doesn't work as well as intended, no matter how morally-correct it might be.
--We saw huge gains for WOMEN at this time (and rightly so)...thanks all to the temperance movement.
--We also found out that a woman's place was not necessarily IN the home, especially if they were single.
Here's a link that sums it all up really well:
http://unreasonablefaith.com/2009/03/11/12-bad-effects-of-prohibition-you-should-know/
We did learn a lot, but not all of it was good, or even FOR our own good.
Today, we see similar aspects to prohibition, just not as "outright" as back then. We have "regulations" instead...and some of those infringe upon our Constitutional rights a bit more than we would prefer.
One commenter in last night's episode mentioned that it was HARDER today to get a drink as opposed to when prohibition was in swing (or even BEFORE prohibition). Alcohol is so regulated and taxed, that the prices are getting ever higher, while consumption remains at record levels.
Alcohol is being used by younger people (into the pre-teen years now), and certainly ALCOHOLISM is still a bane in our society, and shows no signs of abating anytime soon.
Alcohol-related deaths either by hand (including domestic abuse) or by vehicle continue to plague us yearly, and yet there are those that would loosen the restraints of OTHER mood-altering items, because we should all be free enough to not have government dictate how we should run OUR lives.
With prohibition came disregard for the law and those charged with upholding it, and we see the results today.
Many of us are fine with being able to "police ourselves", and practice MODERATION in any facet of our lives...others, not so much.
Any laws and regulations should address THOSE people, and not paint everyone with a broad brush in that matter.
But, we can't have it that way for some reason.
The once noble experiment was a flop...plain and simple.
What all of us should take away from it, is a better sense of WHO WE ARE.
We have the potential to achieve much more than we currently are doing, but the government has to understand that whenever they intrude into our lives, they risk having the people turn against them.
In today's world, the propensity for violence is too easily secured, and too readily available.
We should all be wary of that, lest we travel down a path that parallels that of the prohibition era.
The series made me really think about a lot of things, as it should.
This nation finds itself balancing on a knife's edge, and one slip can be costlier than we might imagine.
We need to be strong, and vigilant, and above all...knowledgeable.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

04 October 2011

Tuesday Tidbits...
When I mentioned yesterday that Fall brings with it it's own marvelous colors, as in the FOLIAGE we are apt to view, there can also come along a caveat...or two.
*** Case in point, those people that think there is nothing wrong whatsoever with being behind the wheel of a vehicle that is painted some GOD-AWFUL hue. Personally speaking, I have seen folks lose their lunch with more splendorous colors than what I see rolling along the streets of the ghettohood.
Well, at least those colors were tolerable.
Not so with some people, as you will see ahead.
Take a perfectly GOOD 1990 Ford Crown Victoria...great family car - nice ride, so-so mileage, and really comfy seating.
Hell, police departments SWEAR by 'em to this day!
And they have a nice big V8 engine under the hood...lots of "giddyap" for the horsepower. Now, take that nice car...and do THIS to it:
This is NOT what I mean by FALL FOLIAGE...not one damn bit!
Somehow, if I saw myself driving around in ANY of these donks, I'd have some SERIOUS issues with MY manhood...like, where the f$ck has it GONE?
I cannot fathom WHY seemingly "normal" males would permit themselves to succumb to crap like this?
Used to be you kept your car looking as close to showroom "new" as possible, or souped it up to race.
These "cars" are so screwed up, mechanically-speaking, that they are a danger on the roads.
The design geometry, the handling, the center-of-gravity...all of those cool features made to keep the car rolling with the SHINY side up have gone out the window (along with some male brains).
Kinda gives the gender a bad rep.
And their women actually LIKE this stuff???
(my God, we are so screwed as a species)
Well, that certainly doesn't say that much for the females, does it?
I suppose if the women of these men thought it was cool to jump off a cliff IN that car, they'd go DO IT.
(Hey, now THERE is an idea waiting to be born...lol)
In any event, if I see anyone driving such a POS, I'm just gonna laugh my ass the hell off...IN THEIR FACE!
Nice to see our tax dollars hard at work there...NOT.
(because none of these bucks holds down a legal job...you already knew that, though)
Ah, yes...society as it's "best"(?) ...ROFL!
Moving on...(hurredly AND thankfully)...
*** Last evening was the second installment of Ken Burns film: Prohibition, and this just keeps getting better and better (definitely a keeper for the DVD collection in the near future).
The first episode was called: A NATION OF DRUNKARDS.
Last night's episode was titled: A NATION OF SCOFFLAWS.
And it was during this time in our history that the WORD "scofflaw" came into being...seriously.
The term "bootlegger" also came into vogue, which was derived from the practice of people carrying bottles of booze down their pant leg on a flask tucked into a boot. These folks would offer drinks to other people on the street for a nominal price.
Talk about impromptu entrepreneurship...!
The Volstead Act had banned the sale, production, and transport of ALL alcohol, with the only exception being for "medicinal purposes", and specified rites of religious practices.
So, synagogues and churches got to keep their sacramental wine.
Needless to say, the number of "prescriptions" written by doctors SKYROCKETED...and curiously enough, so did CHURCH ATTENDANCE.
This was also the beginning of bootlegging as a bonifide "business venture"...and it made more than a few men VERY wealthy, and a lot more men pretty well off. And the lengths these people would go to deliver "the goods" was unbelievable.
Some enterprising man used horse-drawn MILK CARTS, dressed his men in white uniforms, and painted the milk bottles (white) to appear to be full...now THAT'S creative.
And speaking of creative success...
There was Roy Olmstead, a former police lieutenant from the Seattle, WA area, and George Remus, a Cincinnati lawyer, both of whom became noted bootleggers...of the "good" kind.
They were considered GOOD because they didn't have to fight anyone for territorial gains, nor did they carry weapons.
Can't say the same for groups like the Purple Gang...or other bootleggers that ran sections of our major cities, and always seemed to have some "turf war" going on.



These were the ranks that none other than Alfonso Capone came from. Formerly from NYC, he was alleged to have committed two murders in Brooklyn, so he headed out to Chicago and found a "home" there.
Then there was the OTHER "side of the coin", found in the likeness of one Mabel Willebrandt, known as the "First Lady of Law" in the USA, and was the assistant Attorney General of the United States.
That is QUITE an accomplishment for a woman of her era, and I must say, that if Angelina Jolie EVER wants to win an Oscar for best actress, she needs to do a film ABOUT Mabel Willebrandt...period. They look so much alike, it's eerie (If Angelina DOES, well...you heard it HERE...FIRST, folks)
Mabel was like a bloodhound, and would stop at nothing to prosecute those brought in for violation of Volstead.
But Volstead wasn't the ONLY facet to prohibition...there were more "laws" added.
There was the Cullen-Harrison Act, signed at the tail end of prohibition, which allowed certain beverages back into the mix. It was FDR that signed this into law in 1933, just a brief time before Prohibition was repealed altogether.
Now the main thing with ANY law or amendment, is the need to properly ENFORCE it...such was not the case with Volstead.
It was basically left up to the STATES for real enforcement, and they shrugged their shoulder and said "OK", and then did what they wanted. Some states did remain dry throughout that time, while others did little to enforce Volstead.
Enter the U.S. Treasury Department, and it's band of "revenue agents".
Quaintly enough, this was on the coat tails of America's "Progressive Era" (1890-1920).
At first, crime, drunkenness and traffic accidents DID go down...but thanks to the "entrepreneurial spirit" of this nation (no pun intended), it wasn't all that long before drinking was back UP to where it was PRE-prohibition.
After several years, crime went back UP, as did drunkenness. It was little wonder that in cities like NYC, there were over 30,000 speakeasies to be found. State and local "enforcement" turned the other cheek...for a price.
And the bootleggers were making money hand-over-fist, so they COULD AFFORD to pay off as many officials, and police as was needed in order to operate with impunity...which they did.
It was at this time when "novices", not connected with major distillers took to making bootleg liquor, such as bathtub gin.
And it was little wonder that people became deathly ill from such concoctions...considering one of the "ingredients" might be RUBBING ALCOHOL...or PAINT THINNER (shades of crystal meth and crack). People became blind, or loss the use of their legs for months, due to such "creative innovation" from the masses.
Now George Remus took a different approach...he had a few bucks to rub against one another, so when he started his bootlegging, he also began to BUY UP as many small distilleries as possible, and THEN, create his OWN drug company (for it WAS legal, with proper licensing, to make hooch for "medicinal purposes"...which he did with abandon).
He hired his own truck drivers to deliver the "medicine", and all went well...for a while.
One might say he became one of the richest men in America in the shortest amount of time.
Ditto for Roy Olmstead, who brought in HIS alcohol from CANADA via water.
It was timely intervention by Treasury Agents and non-stop doggedness by Mabel Willebrandt that brought BOTH men down in the end.
The story of how Roy & George came to justice is the stuff of MOVIE LEGENDS...it's THAT amazing.
*** As I have said, this film by Burns is very well-presented, and offers the viewer a wonderful insight to the time when our government attempted to legislate behavior by Constitutional means...and how average folks become folk heroes of a sort, while others became notorious criminals.
Tonight is the final installment: A NATION OF HYPOCRITES
--Here's the link to the episode guide:
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/about/episode-guide/
--Here's the homepage for the PBS series:
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/
--And here is a link to the 16th Amendment (Federal Income Tax - rattified 1913) & the 18th Amendment (Prohibition - rattified 1920) that ties the two together well:
http://blog.mises.org/6907/prohibition-and-the-income-tax/
I guarantee that you'll be blown away from what people did back THEN, how it ties into TODAY, and how we changed and adapted as a nation between those times.
I know I found myself laughing at some of this, and other times, I was like "WTF???"...
Definitely worth your time.
So relax a spell tonight, and tune into the show.
And have a COLD ONE while you're at it...LOL.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.