Now THAT Was Fog...
Woke up today (around 0500 hrs), looked outside, and couldn't even see any neighbor's house...I was ECSTATIC!
Then, (after seeing 2-hour delays all over) I realized I could never be THAT fortunate...it was only fog.
The nice, heavy, early morning kind (reminded me of the mountains in PA) that leads one to believe they've arrived in some old Outer Limits episode (A Feasibility Study) where, if you drive into that fog far enough, you'll find yourself on another planet (as potential slave labor for the inhabitants)...
Or perhaps you think of Adrienne Barbeau in the John Carpenter movie (The Fog) only sans the New England locale...and the lighthouse...and naturally, sans Adrienne Barbeau (ah, well...maybe next time).
But, let's not some let odd weather deter us from our mission today; to get one to think.
So, let's get busy thinking.
*** The answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"One of the primary purposes of discipline is to produce alertness.
A man who is so lethargic that he fails to salute will fall an easy victim to the enemy."
This is attributable to none other than our dear friend, General George S. Patton, Jr.- War As I Know It, 1947.
And by the looks of the fog out there, practicing some ALERTNESS would go a LONG way this morning.
*** Next up, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and that means we're now into the 40-day period called LENT.
Now, as a (shouting) Methodist, we're not "required" to participate in this, but I do, because it teaches humility, along with sacrifice, and many people do tend to give something up for Lent.
I prefer to eat fish on Fridays...just a habit I got into (dating Catholic girls in the day), and I don't find it the least bit bothersome to me.
But, as far as what I "give up" for Lent...that's a whole other thing.
Usually, I give LENT up for Lent, so that opens up the field a bit.
And I would like to give up not wanting to shoot the locals, but with the constant vigilance against crime down here, that possibility goes out the window real fast. Being "unprepared" for any eventuality around our "fortress" is never an option...just like FAILURE.
It's amazing what some folks will give up, though...like "I will give up drinking Jack Daniels (out of the bottle) every Thursday after 9PM for Lent."
That's not really giving up all that much...if anything.
One thing I know that is NEVER given up for any reason in ANY religion down here is aberrant behavior.
You will NEVER have any day where the "locals" give up playing their god-awful (c)rap music from the POS boomcars...EVER.
Must be the whole "loud stereo to make up for small man parts" thing.
Just ONCE, I'd love to hear someone drive by blasting some Toby Keith...or Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture...that ain't asking for much, right?
*** They say that time changes things, and many times, I find that to be SO damn true.
I recently got an email from a dear friend who shared just such a thing.
Take for example the major events in our recent past...helped shape the world, hmm?
The Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima back in August 1945, and after all this time, you have to wonder how things have changed THERE. Well, wonder no longer...here's the PROOF.



















And now, let's look at how AMERICA has changed in that very same period of time in say...DETROIT.
Wow...have to say the JAPANESE fared much better...and the amazing part, is that they have no "entitlement" system in place.
No welfare system, and they manage to take a devastated city and turn it into a REAL showplace, while WE, shackled with entitlement programs meant to "level the playing field" (read take from the haves and GIVE to the have-nots) are going in the exact OPPOSITE direction.
Looks like MORE devastation was caused by government welfare programs than by the damn A-bomb...given the net results from 1945 forward to now...and like I say, maybe we could stand to LEARN from the Japanese in this regard...couldn't we?
*** A couple more lists that Indiana (and Ft. Wayne) has managed to make.
Indiana now ranks THIRD in the manufacturing arena...but not in the way you suppose.
This state is third in the manufacturing of METH...surprised?
I'm not.
And neither are the people that wrote THIS:
http://www.14news.com/story/16993643/indiana-is-third-in-us-in-meth-production
Wouldn't surprise me if we're also high (no pun intended) on the lists for other "street pharms" (crack, cocaine, MJ, ecstasy, special K, etc.)
Fort Wayne made the list of 100 NOISIEST CITIES...we're number 42 (with DETROIT being # 100).
I believe the reason we're AS LOW as we are is the population...not as MANY ASSHOLES as other noisier cities, but the ones we DO have are probably NOISIER than the average asshole (I have the lists and pictures to prove that much)...so it's a wash there..
Here's the lowdown:
http://www.meetings-conventions.com/articles/americas-quietest-and-noisiest-cities/c45896.aspx
And THIS site has a map you can roll over to see the ranking:
http://info.acoustiblok.com/blog/bid/70023/Noise-Pollution-Ranking-America-s-Noisiest-Cities
*** Alveda King speaks in Ft.Wayne.
I would love to meet with this wonderful woman, as I feel she carries Dr.King's message far better than anyone else in his family, and especially better than most of the black community.
She knows the "score" when it comes to the inner city problems, but often is dismissed because she's a conservative, and speaks out against liberal entitlements that have hurt her people for decades, while producing very little real progress towards true equality (thank the democrats for that clusterf$ck).
My hope is that people will LISTEN to her message...and not just hear what she's saying. There is a huge difference between the two.
*** Lastly today, change can be a good thing...or it can be a portent to worse things to come.
I've always been a very firm believer that "change for change sake" is NEVER a good thing...at all.
If you have something,...anything that works...you don't arbitrarily up and muck with it.
And you certainly do not change something that allows one class of people MORE equality than another.
You don't "rob" Peter to pay Paul, if Peter has been working his ass off, and Paul doesn't "feel" like working to even things out...that is highly unfair and unjust. It hurts BOTH people, and that is the ONLY "equality" that comes from this.
This nation need not look to other nations to "model themselves" after, because many of those nations are in worse shape than we are.
Yet, when we allow OUR nation to devolve into something akin to those "3rd-worlders" (like we see in Detroit), we have to ask ourselves HOW we permitted such "change" to occur.
We change the dress codes in schools - we change hiring procedures - we change the way we drive (thanks to governmental interference and regulations) - we change what makes up a "family" - we change what we eat (thanks to more government intrusion) - we change the way we teach our kids - we change laws to make crime appear to go down - we change the method of policing so as not to infringe on certain peoples (racial profiling versus criminal profiling) - we change the way we view our country and her symbols (pledge of allegiance bans and bowing to atheists).
ALL of these and so much more we have allowed to be changed from what we used to hold dear to us and this nation.
And what have we RECEIVED as a result of such change?
We have seen our OWN liberties and freedoms erode away...slowly, imperceptibly at first, but with more rapidity over time.
This is one slippery slope none of us need tread upon, for the future of THIS country is at stake.
If ANY change is needed, it's a change back to values and principles that EVERYONE can get on board with...and work together to achieve.
If Japan can take a bombed out city and restore it to a magnificent city, then by God, we can halt the decline of OUR cities, and reclaim then in like manner. Hell, that's just common sense, isn't it?
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.