Friday Follies...
Well, we're ending this week on a rather FOGGY note, but a mild one, weather-wise.
Then it's back to colder temps NEXT week, beginning tomorrow...hey, it IS Winter, right?
Got some ground to cover today, before we all get started on the weekend, so let's get rolling...
*** Anyone TIRED of all the "Super" Bowl hype...YET?
I know I am...or was...about several weeks ago.
Our local station had a good story about HUMAN TRAFFICKING, and how, at places JUST like the SUPER BOWL, child sex for sale becomes rampant.
Take a click (or three) over to WANE.com for the lowdown...it's not pretty, just FACT.
-And in a related story, a sports store at Glenbrook Mall had it's inventory seized for COUNTERFEIT items...(Gotta love the FEDS - guns going across the border, illegal drugs abounding, and a suck-ass economy, so instead, they plow ahead and "snag some swag"...marvelous!)
That story can also be found at WANE...or here:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120203/NEWS07/302039971
Whenever we wanted OFFICIAL (licensed) sports merchandise, there was only ONE place in Philly to get us some...MITCHELL & NESS (downtown).
They supplied the REAL teams in the city, so you KNOW they were legit!
Caveat Emptor...oh, yasureyoubetcha!
And now, for something criminally different...
*** Blocked in officer fires at driver.
I really LOVE this Sgt. I want about FIFTY more like him down here.
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120203/LOCAL07/302039928
The wrong-way driver, Matthew J. Bulliner, 37 (and highly intoxed) of 4411 Lillie St, Fort Wayne, 46806 (our neck o' the woods...big surprise there) is now a guest of the local constabulary, and probably cuts a handsome figure wearing ORANGE.
He's got some other fun things on his rap sheet like disorderly, criminal trespass, false informing, invasion of privacy, public intox, and NOW:
- Driving while SUSPENDED
- 2 counts resisting
- OWI
- Failure to yield to emergency vehicle
- Failure to return to scene of an accident
- Driving wrong way on a one-way street
- failure to stop at an accident scene
Mr. Bulliner was the latest demonstration dummy for the proper employment of a TAZER (and probably the only time his NAME and the word EMPLOYMENT was used in the SAME SENTENCE...lol)
Yep, that oughta do for a start...and keep his sorry ass out of circulation for a while.
Nice shooting, Sarge!
God, I love happy endings!
*** And speaking of JUSTIFIED...
(And not that fantastic show on FX)
How's about THIS story:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/police-use-of-taser-justified
Another drunk-ass driver, one Michael Ard, of 2319 Oakridge Rd, Fort Wayne, 46808, took out TWO utility poles (heard this call on the radio, but no outage from the poles coming down), and THEN puts up a stink when EMS and the FWPD try to get him OUT of the totaled vehicle, onto a gurney and to hospital for treatment...what an asshole!
Now, spitting bloody saliva at people and yanking out an IV (he has priors for battery, so that figures) is NOT the best way to introduce yourself to law-enforcement (and EMS), nor make nice with those trying to HELP, so the FWPD officers up and TAZED his uncooperative ass, and some people saw the video and called the station on the po-po about "excessive use of force"...can you BELIEVE that sh*t?
Like the officers were WRONG?
Gimme a damn break, here.
This perp is in serious need of a "tune-up"...
The story actually has FWPD Chief York defending his officers (bad hair day for Rus), and on THIS point, I really AGREE with him...OMG, maybe the apocalypse IS closer than I thought...LOL.
You have to remember that in THIS city, the police are ALWAYS on the radar of those fringe groups that think that routine police work and protocol is (or should be considered) "brutality"...(those groups must kiss a lot of ACLU ass - I prefer to KICK it instead)
Personally, I think a LOT of our local troglodyte "residents" would really BENEFIT from some "electro-shock therapy".
Might get those drug-infused brain cells of theirs WORKING for once...make a good decision now and then.
Actually learn how to be a respectable citizen...whatta concept, hmm?
But wait, we're not quite finished yet, kids...
*** Need MORE proof that SOME people don't deserve to live in a (gov't-sponsored) house without LEARNING what it means to have a KNOWLEDGE of what we call being a responsible individual...check THIS out:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120203/LOCAL07/302039927/1002/LOCAL
Now how many times have you lit candles in your house or apartment, and then decided to RUN SOME ERRANDS...leaving those candles UNATTENDED???
(I'm betting NEVER...right?)
Well, that's because all of YOU are something we call SMART..unlike THIS resident (moron).
Betcha they also use the stove for drying clothes...or worse.
Well, at last it didn't happen on the (...all together, gang...) SOUTHEAST SIDE of Fort Wayne, which only serves to prove that the stupidity in this city IS spreading. Onward and upward, right?
Witnesses said someone was still inside, but firefighters found no one (guess those witnesses wanted to be entertained while the firefighters were placed at further risk...typical).
*** This story is part of that (vicious) Circle of Life gig I talk about:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120203/LOCAL/302039970
We recently were "advised" that the city of fort Wayne could see a possible HIKE in WATER RATES...to the tune of FORTY F$CKING PERCENT!
And this is just another turn on that merry-go-round.
The LAST time we had a rate hike (2006?) people started to CUT BACK their usage (waste is so wasteful) of water...and we have been doing likewise, although we draw the line at "showering with a neighbor"...THAT ain't EVER gonna happen...EVER!
But we're frugal in our use, and we do OK...until now.
The city sees that people ARE conserving more (does that make them CONSERVATIVES...perish the thought for our Democratic mayor), and using less, so they do what ANY democrat-run city would do...TAX MORE (so they can SPEND more).
And so we all get to go to the "dance" once again...MORE taxes (cost of water), so we USE EVEN LESS (consumption of water), and then the city TAXES US AGAIN (to recoup the losses from conservation), and so on...and so forth.
This crap never ends.
On the one hand, we're all "expected" to conserve resources...all well and good, but at WHAT PRICE?
How the hell can I conserve when every time I cut back, they only jack up the price for using LESS of something (like water)?
Yeah, go ahead and say it....it's one of THOSE moments...
"WTF???"
Wow, we can have at least ONE of those every damn day, it seems.
Of course we (the consumers) have to pay for UV treatment of the water instead of chemicals (that have worked fine for the last 50+ years).
I dunno...I can smell another ANNEXATION in this city's future...not that THOSE residents will prefer that any more than those in Aboite, who were forced into our fair city, and have reaped all those "benefits" since (he said sarcastically).
Yep...Circle of Life...not the best way to conduct business...just the ONLY way (for now).
*** Lastly today, no one has ever said that life was supposed to be "fair".
I get that.
What I want to know is why does it NEVER seem to be fair at all, especially when certain people DO "play by the rules"?
It's like the old "No good deed ever goes unpunished" thing.
What we need to do is stop raking the good folks over the coals, be they societal, or financial ..whatever.
We've already seen how WRONG (and costly) it is to "reward bad behavior"...look at those 400 gov't programs designed to pull folks out of poverty, while never instilling in them any sense of worth...yeah, that works SO damn well.
I say we start rewarding GOOD behavior...acknowledge ALL those people who DO pay their taxes, bust their asses, conserve whenever possible, and basically are just good old decent folk.
It's like if you don't have a car accident, that insurance company drops your premium each year a little.
Why not start giving breaks to those folks who DO follow the rules, and keep their noses clean and their asses out of life's slings.
Maybe, when the GOOD people catch a break now and then, it might spur those bad folks to get their proverbial sh*t together, so THEY can become better themselves, and thereby secure a few DESERVED "rewards" along the way.
Just a thought. (and a damn good one, imho)
Have yourselves a great weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...
Stay SAFE out there, America.
((Coming Monday - my take on the "changes" coming to the 122nd Fighter Wing at Baer field...and other fun stuff, so we'll see 'ya then.))