Monday Musings...

Welcome to another "fun-filled" week...which is determinate upon YOUR take on the word FUN.
I trust all you MOMS out there had a great day yesterday, as you all so richly deserved.
Here at the "Fortress", it was one of our Springtime "planting days"...stuff we bought that got potted.
I, on the other hand, did NOT get "potted" but remained as sober as a judge....(dammit)!

It was a nice time outside after I got ALL the front and side lawns nicely mowed (they're the ones with the hills on them...helluva workout)..

Naturally, we attracted some onlookers, not that I mind one bit.
Not a damn thing wrong with "playing to an audience"...that APPRECIATES it...LOL.

Even saw our first hummingbirds yesterday afternoon...sure glad I put the feeders out Saturday.
Hey, I appreciate the "company"...what can I say...LOL.
The new additions to the garden (and property in general) only go to reinforce our resolve to remain so much more civilized than the troglodytes that reside around us. And it keeps me from going postal to no small end.
*** Today is also the first of two "fence-replacement" days...the old one gets torn down and the new one goes up tomorrow (after the new metal posts set overnight).
*** And today begins the G.I. Film Festival being held in D.C. all this week. (the best thing to hit the Capitol in quite some time, imho)
Here's the website that tells you all you might want to know, should you find yourself in or around the D.C. area, and feel the need to some good movies: It's all about REEL stories and REAL Heroes.
http://gifilmfestival.com/
It's not all about the John Wayne homage...many good little known (indie) films from the frontlines...from and about those in harm's way.
Makes me wish I lived back in Philly...well, with the crime rate there...perhaps not.
So, with THAT as our prologue, let's see what's been shaking around the old ghettohood, shall we?
*** There was a really good article in yesterday's paper concerning the number of "bank-owned" houses around town that have fallen into disrepair.

Here's the story link, and it's a pretty good eye-opener:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120513/LOCAL10/305139938/1045/SEARCH
It amazes me that this city doesn't seem to really KNOW "WTH" is going on when it comes to real estate.
One would think they WOULD, because ALL the taxes FROM properties go into the coffers and allow the city to remain a viable entity.
Not to mention, that money goes to another 30+ "entities" to fund their requests...and pay salaries.
The article also mentions a "race-bias" when it comes to the care and maintenance of these vacant houses...

I find that amusing, if not wonderfully UNTRUE.
There IS a reason WHY houses in predominantly WHITE and NICE neighborhoods don't appear to look disheveled...
Yes, friends, once again, it comes down THE PEOPLE.
Those areas have PEOPLE that care...that make sure whoever DOES own the house keeps it looking available TO BE SOLD, unlike what (now) passes for houses in the ghettohood, where no one seems to know HOW many times the place changed hands and WHO really owns them. Hell, even the BANKS deny ownership in many cases...and who can blame them?
Down HERE, people like Wifey and myself are but a handful of "holdouts" that STILL...DO...CARE...!
We know that this area COULD turn around and be nice again...IF ONLY others (especially those in most of the city departments) would DO what they're PAID to do, instead of sitting on their ever-widening asses and do what they've BEEN doing, which is AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE to change the face of the...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE of Ft. Wayne.
The list of houses of the RAZING list (to be torn down) is well OVER 400+, and now we can add those SEVERAL THOUSAND "bank-owned" (or whoever the hell is supposed to own them) houses to the list of VACANCIES...might as well, anyway.
That's a SH*TLOAD of EMPTY houses that COULD be bringing in revenue for the city, if only they weren't foreclosed on.
Gee, maybe the reach exceeded the grasp here...and people with champagne taste and beer pocketbooks should NOT have overextended themselves FINANCIALLY...'ya think?
That would explain all the NEW (and expensive) constructs with little to no renovation on the older (and cheaper) ones...
What a colossal WASTE of resources, time, and money tossed there, hmm?
Just like those new houses at Renassance Pointe...supposed to allow low-income families the "chance" to own a home on a payment plan...
(( ROLLS EYES ))
First of all, a $125K+ house is NOT for the "low-income" among us...I know. We lived in rentals until I was in high school...because we COULD NOT AFFORD A HOUSE PRIOR TO THEN. It's THAT simple.
You succeed (or not) on YOUR OWN...by your OWN devices and ingenuity and dedication to a job or career or continuing education.
To sit back and all but DEMAND you get "what the other guy gets" because you think you deserve it, and to not get it is UNFAIR, is dumb beyond reason. You want it? Work towards it...you might even come to appreciate it more...period.

Yet, while ALL this is going on, the city still doesn't have an inkling WHAT the number of properties it has that are lying vacant. The numbers in the article are suppositions based on what numbers are currently available.
Times were, the REAL ESTATE associations would always know...but these days, THEY are as befuddled as the damn city...amazing.
And, while we're on the subject of houses along the streets of the SE side of town, there comes this story:
*** Car shot at along Spatz St - One dead, one wounded.
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120514/LOCAL07/305149977

Yep, we now stand at HOMICIDE NUMBER ELEVEN (for those of you working on your "dead pools" at work or home).
We're definitely on track to reach 25 deaths at this rate (as I projected).
You can't even drive down a damn street here any longer at night without some sh*t like THIS becoming a somewhat regular occurrence.
And that's why I mow the lawn EARLY as possible...to avoid such confrontations, drive-by or otherwise.
If I were the FWPD chief, I would do a few things about this most recent shooting, aside from bolstering a really crappy morale with the officers.
1) I would get the names of EVERYONE living along that block...NO exceptions, and then run those names through the system to find out who's rolling dirty, what priors they have had (because along ANY block down here, you WILL find raps sheets out-the-ass, trust me).
2) I get solid hits (or see prior trends) from ANYONE on that list, we get a warrant and SEARCH the house.
3) Those that have active 14s (warrants) get a free ride downtown.
You go HOUSE BY HOUSE if necessary, and I don't give a hoot in hell if you bring in Homeland Security, the FBI, the CIA, or even the National-freaking-Guard! You GET IT DONE.
Then, you branch out with their known associates, track back ANY firearms to place of purchase (if possible, as they often tamper with ID marks...another crime to add on), and question THOSE establishments for straw-purchases.
House by house and block by block...time to take back YOUR city from the thugs.

Sure, it sounds a bit hard-assed, but unless you PREFER to have an ENTIRE quadrant of the city becoming CRIME-CENTRAL and whatever law-abiding citizens still living there (like us) constantly placed AT-RISK, and possibly able (and more than willing at this point) to sue the ass off the FWPD AND the CITY as a result, should we become victims of a vicious crime that King Henry could not (or would not) protect us from, you will have EXACTLY the scenario I have set before you. And it will continue to happen with ever-increasing frequency.
Both these stories are PERFECT examples of the BROKEN WINDOW THEORY...!
(textbook cases, in fact)
Unfortunately, it's fast becoming more like a BROKEN CITY REALITY.
People have got to stop getting ALL the "free passes" that this city seems so keen on following.

We HAVE laws for LITTER.
We HAVE laws for NOISE.
We HAVE laws for RENTAL VIOLATIONS.
We HAVE laws for CODE VIOLATIONS.
We HAVE laws for ABERRANT BEHAVIOR.
We HAVE laws for TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS.
Then WHY are they not enforced with the verve that we see ELSEWHERE in town, and if they supposedly ARE, then WHY do I see all those that the city and the po-po are NOT? Hell, I'm not even LOOKING for them, as THEY should be.
Perhaps the department is more concerned with the "big-ticket" items, rather than the thousands of "mosquitoes" buzzing about?
Cripes, we have a department that lauds it all over that they made over five HUNDRED noise violation citations in a given year...when I have SEVERAL THOUSAND roll past OUR house in that SAME year...there is a wonderful "disconnect" there.
Those noise violations THEY get are the "easy" ones...ones happening by accident, as opposed to setting up checkpoint "sting-ops" to nail the WORST of the loud bunch...the way most OTHER cities address such a problem...with POSITIVE results.
The FWPD bosses don't feel it worth the time to pursue such things, clearly...and that's why we have HOMICIDES instead.

The problem only GROWS in scope...and violence.
Not EVERY collar will be THAT ONE major drug bust, but you WILL work your way a lot farther UP that drug-ladder when you start busting on all the "small-frys" out there for the small sh*t (that's goes so damn unnoticed).
That is called being PROACTIVE...and GOOD POLICING.
Maybe the FWPD chief would do well to TRY that once in a while...he might find the results better for ALL the citizens in ALL quadrants of the city.

I always say that "ANY city is only as good as it's WORST area", and that definitely applies to Ft. Wayne...because we've got a growing "worst area", whether the city leaders decide to believe it...or not.

Perhaps it's high time they got a dose of (my) reality...they could USE it, if the citizens of this city are to be better served.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...

Stay SAFE out there, America.