12 March 2012

Monday Musings...
Well, we seem to have abbreviated the Winds of March in lieu of the Showers of April this morning.
It's little wonder with temperatures that are supposed to be rising into the SIXTIES today (and higher for the rest of the week) that we might become confused with the lack of traditionalism when it comes to the seasons this year.
In any event, we shall press onward, because standing still is not fun (and only serves to make you a target in combat).
With that said, let's take a peek into the rest of what's going on...
*** The Occupy Ft. Wayne movement has been "closed" down (for the time being).
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120312/LOCAL07/303129966
Now, while I think this was WAY late in coming, I do see that there is a more important issue here, and not necessarily the health issues that plagued NYC or the crime that occupiers fostered in Oakland.
Fort Wayne is preparing for SPRING, and that means Freimann Square needs to be open for those who will PAY to rent the facility for whatever use and event comes along during the season.
Remember, it's ALWAYS about the bottom line, even when practicing peaceful assembly and protest.
Money talks, and everything else walks (or gets evicted).
This set a bad precedent (imho), because the "be-in" should have been broken up after the initial permit to protest EXPIRED.
The fact that the city allowed the continuance of the occupy "movement" sets the stage for future potential problems, especially with the eviction, which was supposed to be within a 24-hour period , but was reduced to one hour.
Someone's gonna have a bad taste in their mouth over this one.
*** When you think Springtime, you think NOISE?
Well, I've come to believe that, after more than a dozen years in the Midwest, but the blame is not upon the shoulders of you "traditional" Hoosiers.
I know most all of you are decent people, and exude much of what I still think of when I think hospitality and good values and principles.
The trouble comes from a lot of the "transplants"...those who move here and represent NONE of the values that REAL Hoosiers are known for.
Maybe most of you aren't "Ma & Pa Kettle", but I still find people of real character a valuable commodity, as well as (like us at the "fortress") an endangered species.
I'm talking about those without character in the normal sense...those who ARE characters, and wouldn't know what is meant by anything approaching NORMAL if their lives depended upon it.
Yes, it's time for "da boomcar boyz" to take to our (read my) streets...AGAIN.
Every year, it gets worse...noisier, louder, more frequent...
And if the stereos aren't bad enough, you have bad mufflers, motorcycles (crotch-rockets), and barking dogs that always seem to belong to the ONE person that lives nearest you.
Naturally, the amount of TRASH in the area grows as well, and we're not just talking about the TWO-LEGGED variety.
Bottles, cans, bags...you name it, and it will "appear" on your property, unaided by Mother Nature's winds.
Yesterday, we set a (March) record for boomcars...TWENTY in the 19 hours I was awake, and that's JUST the ones loud enough to drown out the TV as they passed...forget the constant perceptible acoustic "heartbeat" the area has from about 1100 hrs until well after midnight.
Oh yes, this area is RIPE for noise ordinance violations...BUT, you have to have officers in the area to HEAR such things, right?
And even though I've been on the command staff of the FWPD for YEARS (close to eight, now) to DO SOMETHING about it...nothing gets done (amazing how that works, unlike all the boomcar drivers that DO NOT ...work, that is).
Personally, if I had such a problem in the section of a city I was tasked with watching over while all this crap was going on, I'd be ashamed to show up for work...seriously (right, Rus?).
And if ONE citizen came to me explaining the problem, and I did nothing about it, I'd not be living up to that oath I took all those years ago to uphold the LAW...and PROTECT the citizenry by my SERVICE to the community.
Sure, one can say they made close to five HUNDRED noise-related arrests last year...yet that PALES in comparison to the more than THREE THOUSAND boomcars that have glided past OUR house in the same period.
Maybe your officers just ain't in the "right" location???
Maybe your staff is a might "thin" when it comes to patrolling the streets?
(I showed you the math here AGES ago...with close to 440 officers, we ONLY have around 30-33 PER SHIFT for the entire city at any one time - that's FACT!)
That's too few for too many, if you ask me.
But then, if the city actually CARED about ALL it's citizens, I wouldn't even have to make a stink over this, right?
*** It's hard to go wrong when you follow your gut.
Saturday night, is so typical down here...lots of idiots all over with plenty of stupid sh*t to get involved with.
(at least there was no gunfire)
But one car got my attention...it was sitting in the alley right behind our garage...just sitting, lights on...not moving.
So, I call it in as a suspicious vehicle, and the FWPD rolled a black Explorer (unmarked) on scene within 5 minutes.
The officer rousted the guy who was obviously drunk, seemed like he couldn't produce a license, so the officer gave him the field sobriety test, moved his car and cleared the scene within 15 minutes. I took the make and tag of the car...for future reference.
Within 10 minutes, the car was gone (?).
And my "guess" was that the car might have belonged to the Hispanics at the end of the street along the 500 block of Pettit Ave.
Sure enough, the following day, the car came from the alley and turned westbound...NAILED it!
I hadn't noticed this car before, but you just get an instinctual "buzz" deep inside...can't shake it.
At least I'm familiar with another car in the area, as well as another "drunk".
You gotta remember, people pull up to the curb here to smoke a joint, count their drug money or whatever...you don't take the chance for them to start making it a "habit".
But, you have to have officers around to SEE such things...right?
*** I read about that soldier in Afghanistan who went on a tear and killed 16 civilians...make me sad for that trooper.
And while all those camel-jockeys will bitch several fits in the process, they have to remember that none of them are squeaky-clean innocent here.
Many of THEM contributed to this situation...
We had one solder who "lost it"...simple as that.
The fact that he didn't go postal on his OWN comrades says much.
Does he warrant a death penalty?
I think we (our forces) need to figure out the answers to a LOT of questions, especially WHY.
I think this trooper seeds serious mental help, because I often feel like "cleaning my neighborhood" too, but I've got this self-restraint thing going on...and Lord knows on some days (like yesterday), it doesn't come easy.
I say we pull OUT of Afghanistan...leave those primitives alone to kill one another instead.
But, if they so much as threaten us...we rake 'em over the coals...a lot.
*** Lastly today, life in general has gotten SO damn "complex" of late...and we caused much of it.
We cause it due to fear...or apathy...or self-effacing enjoyment...doesn't really matter HOW we cause it.
What does matter is WHY we cause it, and what to do about it.
This nation was built upon GOOD values and decent principles, and those should never change or besubject to compromise.
Not for technology's sake...not for entertainment's sake...not for ANY reason.
We have to become more adept at policing ourselves...as a society.
Many of us do that every day, and quite well.
It's often been said that it's EASIER for a civilized person to act like a savage, than for a savage to act civilized...and I firmly believe that.
Trouble is, too many get comfortable with that savagery, and such behavior is left unchecked.
Well, then you have another example of the Broken Window Theory...
And many times, such an example is a result of a lack of self-will.
The time has come for everyone to get with the program, because there are those who will attempt to change us in ways we're not aware of.
We need to remain who WE are, and not who someone wants us to be.
That is much of what freedom means.
Have a good week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

3 comments:

John DuMond said...

We're in the 60s today in my neck of the woods too (and Sunny!). Love that "Life" poster. Lately, I'm feeling a bit more like the hydrant.

Bob G. said...

John D.:
Yeah, Spring has "sprung"?
(still not getting all my memos)

Feel free to "cop" that LIFE poster ANY time you want to...it's FREE...LOL.

And when it comes to life, no matter HOW MANY people want me to BE the hydrant...I try MY damnedest to be the DOG instead.

Remember:
BE...the dog.
LIVE...the dog.
(doggone it...LOL)

Roll safe out there.

Bob G. said...

CWM:
Yeah, but that's HIS problem now...lol.

While some folks called it "liquid courage", they SHOULD also be calling it "liquid STUPIDITY"!

DUMB in a bottle...what a novel idea.

Makes me wish the cast of ROB was living down the other end of the block now...ROFL!

Hey, thanks for spending some time here today and commenting.
(nice job w/ your countdown too)

Stay safe up there.